There Is More Than What Meets The Eye
by Rasi10
Summary: Fate is unique I guess. Read on what happens after 3 random strangers meet up in hostage situation where one of them save the other two from a terrorist group. See how their life completes a circle when they meet again under different circumstances. The world is small after all. A Sherlock and Avengers crossover. TonyxJohn fic. May contain mature sequences much later in the book.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I clearly do not own Sherlock or Avengers. I only own a part of the plot.**

 **(This chapter has been edited)**

Tony Stark had just escaped from the hands of the Ten Rings; thanks to Yinsen and his robotic suit that protected him from all the explosions. Though he was severely injured and needed medical help soon. But apparently, fate had other plans.

Just when he thought that he had successfully escaped, he had been captured by some men and brought to a cave where another man was hanging from the other wall.

Tony silently gauged the tied up man. He was deathly pale. Judging the wounds that were visible on his bare chest, he assumed that this man had been there for a few days, tortured for information - assuming he is correct. The wounds were clumsily wrapped, proving that they didn't want to kill him.

He also noticed that the man wasn't asleep, judging from the rise and fall of his chest. He could hear the laboured breathing of the man from where he was tied. From the shredded clothes scattered around, he could say that this man was from a high-class family or some high official.

Tony couldn't, unfortunately, identify where exactly he was as he was still groggy from the hit on his head. All he knew was that he was in some desert region, given to the clothes worn by his kidnappers and was a few meters deep into the ground, judging from the coolness of the cave.

He looked around, trying to figure a way out of this place and was disappointed when he could find none, except the entrance which was heavily guarded. Feeling bored and exhausted, he couldn't decide on what to do when he heard a small groan from the other man in the room.

"You alright there dude? Who are you? why have they brought you here?" Tony asked the man. The man groaned again, before answering in a gruff voice, hoarse from constant screaming.

"James Crate. They've been asking me to join them for a long time for reasons I don't know and information I am not willing to give. Who are you? Why are you here?" James asked, turning to Tony. He was shocked at the plight of the man. His face had been scarred badly. His eyes shone bright with unshed tears, trying to hide the fear and pain.

"Anthony Jackson. I guess I am here to build weapons for them probably. Nice to meet you Mr. Crate," Tony said, smiling slightly at the man in front of him. Before James could respond though, a few men entered the room, smiling devilishly at the two people in front of them.

"Getting to know each other I see. Mr. Holmes, I ask you again. Will you join us or not?" The masked man asked, most probably the leader. James Crate or should I say, Mycroft Holmes weakly glared at the man. "My answer is always the same you bastard. Nothing you do will change it" Mycroft spat out.

"So sad that you are not joining us here Mycroft. Boys, the usual" the man ordered. Said men moved forward towards the British government official and started hitting him with pipes and hands. Mycroft just grunted in pain, mostly used to it but occasionally screamed. Soon they started cutting him.

Tony watched all this in mute horror but could do nothing to stop them as he was in a helpless situation. The leader, who Tony had decided to call as Mr. X, finally shot a bullet to the leg of Mycroft before turning towards Tony, not before asking his men to patch up Mycroft.

"Now Mr. Stark, You probably know why you are here. Are you willing to design the weapons for me or not?" Mr. X asked with an insane smile that promised torture if refused. Remembering his promise to Yinsen, Tony refused to build the weapons, earning the wrath of the man.

Soon, Tony was experiencing the same service, excluding the bullet to his leg and the carvings in his skin. Though he was pounded to unconsciousness. This went on for a few days. The man would come and ask them a question. They would refuse, they were tortured and knocked out. The two used this time to get to know each other.

They talked to each other about their personal life, what they do for a living. Soon became fast friends as they got to know that they had many similarities from the conversations they had.

This went on until the man came to them and forced them out of the chains. A bag was forced on their heads before escorting them outside. When they were outside, the bags were forcefully removed from their heads, leaving them blinking at the sudden light and heat.

"So, Mr. Holmes and Mr. Stark. Do you accept the offer and join us or more torture?" the man in front of them asked. The two men looked around, still trying to adjust to the light outside while shaking their head in a firm no, only to be punched on the nose and kicked in the guts before they were dragged inside the cave roughly.

Once back inside the cave, they were beaten some more before the men left. The two were silent until they heard the sounds of trucks leaving the place, confirming the fact that 3/4th of the group had left, leaving behind only a few men on guard.

"Do you think we will be found?" Tony asked Mycroft. Both knew that it was futile to try and escape as they were weak and overpowered. They were hoping that someone would find them, even though the hope was dwindling as time passed.

Mycroft remained silent and was roaming around in his mind palace, reviewing memories of the old times where his brother wasn't withdrawn from everyone, though it was partially his fault for ignoring him unintentionally. He smiled at those memories, trying to ignore the outside world and the immense pain he was feeling throughout the body.

Realising that Mycroft was in his mind palace, Tony closed his eyes and sighed, before drifting into a light sleep. He knew that if they didn't have medical attention soon, they would be infected and would be in serious trouble. He just prayed that someone would come to rescue them.

Two hours later, Tony was brought back to the real world to the sound of gunshots. Wincing at the searing pain that shot through him at the sudden movement, he stood up and grabbed on the nearest weapon he could find, which was a wooden plank to defend himself and his friend.

Tony stood near the entrance, waiting in bated breath for people to come in so that he could take them down. But when the door opened, it hit him on the face, causing his legs to give out and he fell to the ground, hitting the head hard to the surface and slipped into the blissful darkness.

 _Two hours earlier_

The sun was blaring down furiously in the Afghan sands, heating the place up tremendously. A lone man was walking through the desert. He had a small pack on his back and a gun on hand. He had been scouting this place for quite some time, trying to contact his team nearby about the recent activity he had witnessed.

It had been a long day of travel for him and his team. They had been instructed to look into some suspicious activities around the place. So while his team was setting up the base, he decided to take a break and walk around a bit nearby.

He seemingly had the best luck and the worst luck as he had stumbled upon a terrorist base accidentally. He quickly his behind the rocks, trying to listen in on what was going on. When he couldn't hear anything, he risked peeking, only to find two people brought out to the man in the entrance.

He could clearly distinguish between the local dialect of the man and the British and American accents from the other two. Even from a distance, he could tell that they had been tortured for days and tried to contact the base when he saw trucks leaving the place with most of the men.

He was starting to get frustrated with no response from the rest of the team. 'Not much time before they collect these two men John. It has to be done now. Even if they aren't sent to the base, they will probably die from the injuries before backup arrives.' John muttered, trying to convince himself. He tried to send out one last call deciding to go ahead and break into the base.

He got to the caves with ease. The problem was presented inside. The deeper he went inside, the more people he could find guarding the place. He successfully killed the border guards and looked around, and spotted spots of blood leading to a place where there seemed to be many guards.

He spotted a guard coming towards him and quickly took action. He jumped on him and twisted the guard's head until he heard a crack before he got up and quickly dressed up and went inside.

He quickly shot two of the guards with his rifle and made his way forward to face 6 gunmen who were in front of him. They rapidly started firing at the intruder. John dodged most of them with ease. Four bullets caught him by surprise, and he was knocked back to the wall.

He groaned as he sat up quickly, thanking the military for providing with the body armour as otherwise, he would be dead. He was expecting nice bruises and maybe a cracked rib. Firing 6 shots at each man and hearing the bodies fall to the ground, he quickly made his way to the door where he suspected the captives were held, not before checking if the guards are dead.

Quickly but quietly heading towards the door, he heard some shuffling before he unlocked the door quickly and caught a thud to the side, causing his head snap towards the noise, only to find one of the men he came to rescue knocked out on the ground and he suspected that he would get a nice concussion from the force he fell down.

He immediately set to work of cleaning the wounds so that it won't be infected and then proceeded to scan him quickly to spot any other injuries and swiftly worked on stitching the deep one and bandaging him up, leaving the device in the middle as he didn't know what it did. Though he decided to ask about it to the man after he woke up.

His eyes then landed on the wounded Mycroft who was in his mind palace. He quickly moved over to him and checked for a pulse, which seemed to bring him out of his musings as he flinched at the contact.

"Don't worry, sir. You will be escorted to safety after I do a basic checkup on you." John said as he brought out the first aid kit and set to work, quickly checking for any damage, and he sedated the man and proceeded to tend the wounds, cringing at the numerous carvings and bruises, the worst one being the bullet wound that seemed to need immediate attention and signs of infections.

He quickly bandaged him up to avoid the other wounds from being infected, he heard the man say something like "Tony... also here... must be rescued" before slipping into a deep sleep as the drugs took control. After bandaging him up as much as he could in a hurry, he sat down to think about his next course of action. He couldn't ignore any one of them and take the other back to camp.

He also knew that he could treat them properly only when he reached the base, where they had the necessary equipment.

So he decided to ignore the pain flaring in his body from the bullets caught in the armour and lifted one onto each shoulder, holding his handgun in one hand as he moved outside, looking back occasionally to check whether anyone would jump them.

Soon, he made his way out and started to switch between a jog and a march for a whole hour before deciding to rest, deeming that there was enough distance between the base and themselves. He then set the two men down to redo the bandages.

John was so busy checking his patients, he never noticed one of them starting to wake up. He was aware of it only when he heard one of them let out a startled scream and hissed when the pain hit him.

"It's alright sir, you don't have anything to worry about. I am just checking him for injuries to treat upon." John said, calmly while he was doing a checkup on Mycroft and removed the mask he had got from the terrorists. Tony calmed down as he saw the man's face, though was immensely confused at what was going on.

"This wound needs immediate attention. But I am limited to use the resources in hand until we reach back to the base," John said, pointing at Mycroft's injury with concern. "It is ok to be confused, you have got a nice concussion from that hit you suffered by hitting the door," John said. Tony nodded. His brain was still fuzzy from the concussion.

"Alright, we need to get back to the base before anyone catches our tail. I am going to redo your bandages now. Please sit still." John said as he finished up with Mycroft and sat next to Tony to check over.

"Um... I think I didn't catch your name? Where are we currently? I am Anthony and that one there is James." Tony said.

"Sure, Tony. Nice meeting you. I am Johnathan, we are currently in Afghanistan. I hope you can walk some distance?" John asked as he finished dressing up Tony.

"I think I can do so. Can I contact someone after reaching the camp?" Tony asked as he got up, slightly wincing and leaned on John for support. John grunted as he lifted up Mycroft, which didn't go unnoticed by Tony.

"Are you alright?" Tony asked as they moved forward. "Nothing serious to worry about Tony. We can contact your friend after we reach camp. I am sure we have some unanswered questions that will be answered there." John said. The two of them started walking way slowly in comfortable silence until they saw shadows in the distance, causing John to take out his gun and...

 **A/N: Chapter 1 of this fanfic people! I would say that this idea came from reading the books You See The Battlefield and If He Be Worthy by AndyHood. A Sherlock and Avengers crossover as you can see, I have made a few tweaks in the timeline here which I will confirm in the upcoming chapter (aka, chapter 13).**

 **Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated from you all. Any honest reviews will be welcome.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **UPDATED ON 25 MAY 2018**

 **EDITED ON 10 AUGUST 2019**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter has been edited.**

 _The two of them started walking way slowly in comfortable silence until they saw shadows in the distance, causing John to take out his gun and..._

Then he lowered his gun back again when he realised that it was his group that was coming over to them and relaxed. "We left the base immediately we heard your message doc. Setting up the communication lines took up some time. Though we can see that you have managed to handle whatever it was." one of them said.

"That's good. Though some of you head North, there might be few more people. It might be easier to capture some of them when they come back." John said. A few of them complied and headed that way while some others took over carrying Mycroft, leaving John to support Tony.

"So... John?" Tony asked as they neared the camp. He was still weak, but his head had started to clear a bit. John hummed in response. "Something I wondered when you said you checked me up. You didn't touch that reactor on my chest by any chance... did you?" Tony asked.

"Well... I would never touch anything that I don't know about. What is that for anyway? The reactor?" Tony just stayed silent when the question was asked, not trusting John or the soldiers around enough to say what happened.

John understood the silence and didn't push him to tell about it. "Just so that you know. I am a qualified doctor and soldier and trust me... I know that you don't want to talk about it right now. But it helps if you say it out loud. I can help you out a little."

"Thank you, John. But I think I will still need some time to get used to being free. And I really need some water." Tony said as they reached the camp, where John immediately headed for the medical tent, ordering the soldiers to lay Mycroft on one bed while he helped Tony onto the other. He then provided Tony with some water while directing a few of them to bring in medical supplies and then disperse.

Tony took in the water greedily before suddenly speaking. "Before these guys caught me... I was with this organisation, The Ten Rings. They suddenly attacked the car I was travelling in. A bomb exploded nearby. Some shrapnels caught me in the chest. This reactor is an electromagnet that stopped the shrapnel from reaching my heart." Tony said.

"I can see why. Even though I am a surgeon, I can get that it is a great risk to operate the shrapnels out without the risk of you dying. Seems like you have to be with that thing in your chest for life. Or at least until technology develops." John said sympathetically as he thoroughly cleaned up and re-stitched everything before ordering him to sleep for a while.

"Before I sleep though... were you all alone when you... you know came to rescue us? 'Cause you are a medic and all..." Tony asked, his curiosity rising.

"Well... I actually was all alone when I initially came to rescue you as I couldn't get in contact with my team on time. I was lucky that most of them were heading out. Else I wouldn't have been able to get you out by the time I brought in the backup." John admitted. "And just because I am a medic, that doesn't mean I don't know to fight. This is a war zone. That means even medics need to know self-defence." John said seriously.

"You are completely insane doing that alone still!" Tony exclaimed as he watched John take off his body armour and shirt off to check for any bruises. Tony was stunned as he saw John casually pocketing the bullets that he took out of the body armour, ignoring the fact that he would've died without the protection. And then at the scars littered out on the body.

The worst one was a deep scratch from the chest to the hip while there were other scars littered around, the most recent ones near the ribs, forming black and blue bruises. "Just as I suspected. The ribs will be sore for a few days. Nothing serious. It looks worse than it is always. Anyone you want to contact, Tony?" John said as he put the shirt back on.

Tony just stared at the guy before he asked. "Can you contact James Rhodes? And your name is not Johnathan... is it?" Tony asked the man. "Maybe... Maybe not, you will find out one day. But don't hack the army records for that Stark." John said. Tony froze and eyed John warily.

"What!" John said as he shrugged. "Come on, it is not that hard to figure out, you went missing in Afghanistan, kidnapped by two terrorist organisations and now asking me to contact a person from the American army who is worried sick about you," he explained.

"Bill, I hope you have contacted Colonel Rhodes?" John asked. "No connection, for now, Doc, will have to try again after some time," Bill replied.

"See, we will call James again after I finish fixing up James. That sounds pretty weird... " John said, the two chuckle lightly at the joke. "You sleep in the meanwhile, you need to recover from whatever happened," John said chuckling as he helped Tony lay down.

After making sure that Tony had fallen asleep, he made his way to Mycroft and patched him up with ease and then went outside to his group. "Any luck with calling the Colonel still?" he asked. "Got a connection through sir!" one of them informed while they were waiting.

John immediately took the phone. "James Rhodes speaking. Any news on Stark?" Rhodey asked. "This is Doctor Watson speaking sir. We found him along with another prisoner. They need immediate medical attention. We are at **(Insert coordinates)** right now." John reported.

"Very well Doctor Watson. Right now I am about two hours away from your coordinates," Rhodey said and kept the phone down. He then headed back inside, after telling one of them to bring in some soup for the injured as he would be tending to them in case they woke up.

He then headed back inside the tent, just in time to hear a low groan from one of the beds and went on to the man. "How do you feel sir? James is it?" John asked as he steadied the man to sit up to drink some water. Mycroft stared at him, slightly confused about what was happening.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened to Tony? Is he alright?" he asked, warily. "Tony is alright, James. I am Johnathan. You are in Afghanistan, at a military camp. You are in safe hands and so is Tony," John said.

"Thank you for saving our lives. Can you call up this number if you can though? They will be searching for me." Mycroft said and recited his assistance's number when Tony gave out a loud scream that startled the two of them.

John immediately was at Tony's side, not before instructing Mycroft to stay put. "PTSD, I believe. Side effects of being captured and tortured for months. I won't be surprised if you have PTSD from your experiences." John said, trying to wake up Tony without touching him.

A few minutes later, he succeeded. Tony sat up, gasping for breath and looked around. "What happened... Oh, Myc... James! You are up! How do you feel?" Tony asked as he sat up groggily. John noticed the tongue slip and raised an eyebrow though left it there.

"Doing as well as I can Tony," Mycroft said, waving off Tony's concern. "Seems like both of you have traumatic dreams and PTSD." John diagnosed. "So... you mean to say that we may be paranoid and jumpy for a while?" Tony asked. John nodded and said.

"One more serious matter. No one must know about me rescuing you alone. It might cause a lot of trouble." John said. The two nodded, getting the point. "Another matter, no need to expose that Tony had been kidnapped twice as it might bring in unwanted attention. We can cover it up to be the same kidnapping but then..." John trailed off.

"But then you have to cover it up as you rescued us from two different places. But how will you cover that up?" Mycroft asked. "I have a plan for covering it up but... the squad must be willing to go along with it... Be back in a minute" John said before leaving, leaving Mycroft and Tony confused.

"What is John planning?" Tony asked. "I don't know we will only know when he comes back," Mycroft replied. Meanwhile, John asked everyone to report to the mess hall. They had a quick discussion. John then left with two bowls of soups, glad that his plan is okayed by the team.

"I've planned everything boys, the squad was divided into 2. My team found you when you escaped the Ten Rings. The other group stumbled upon Mycroft when they were scouting for suspicious movements. That is what we will say to Rhodey and whoever asks," John explained as he handed them the bowls of soup.

"You can trust Rhodey to not tell anyone about this. I trust him enough to tell the truth to him someday" Tony said confidently. "Alright then, only Rhodes will know the truth. No one else will come to know of it. Got it?" John asked. The two agreed to it.

"Will we ever get to meet you again? With you being in the army and all? I mean, one of us will head back to America while the other goes to England you know?" Mycroft said. "I will keep in touch whenever I can. Don't worry about that."

"Well... then we are going to miss a good friend. Don't forget to contact me if you are in London." Mycroft said. "Same here. Contact me if you are in NY." Tony said. "Will surely do. It is weird, isn't it? Two people, who don't trust people easily trust a random stranger who can kill them at any time?" John asked.

"Well... we can easily trust anyone who took in four bullets which could've killed them if it weren't for that body armour. And you could've killed us before instead of healing us" Tony pointed out.

"Guess that's true too. I have feeling that we will be meeting sometime later, I don't know when but we will meet soon. Better get something in your stomachs before Rhodes arrives" John said, pointing at the soup that was starting to get cold.

Just as the two finished eating, there was the sound of a helicopter landing and a lot of commotion before John heard one of the soldiers bring in Rhodey to the medical tent, who immediately rushed to check whether Tony was alright. He then dragged out John to the side, wanting to hear the reports.

John, realising this said, "James needs immediate attention if you want to save his leg. He also has some bruised ribs and one cracked rib, Tony has a fracture in the arm that is not that much visible but needs a cast before it gets worse and a few cuts that I've stitched up. Other than that... nothing much serious."

"But how did you rescue them?" Rhodey asked. Then John explained whatever happened at the lair, how he rescued the two of them and their cover story to avoid unwanted attention.

"Thank you, Watson," Rhodey said after a short pause to digest everything that was said. "That was no problem. Though you might want to be careful as they can be quite jumpy around everyone due to PTSD" John explained.

"Thank you, John, for everything. Now I guess that we will be off." Rhodey said. "It's my duty, Colonel," said John. He returned back to the two of them and pulled them aside, exchanged farewells and helped Rhodey and the others to get them inside. Soon, the copter was heading towards a hospital while John just smiled slightly and went inside for some nap after saying his goodnights, knowing that there was a long day ahead of them the next day.

Rhodey took the two of them to the nearest hospital where Mycroft had to be admitted due to his current state of injuries. Tony, meanwhile, was sent home with a cast on his hand, advised to see a therapist or a councillor. After a short talk with Mycroft and exchanging numbers, Tony went his way, promising to keep in touch.

Mycroft, on the other hand, had to be shifted to one or two hospitals for better treatment before being sent to London. Rhodey had managed to call up Mycroft's assistant, Anthea, who was immediately by his side throughout the whole changing of hospitals until they were in London.

Mycroft opened his eyes and immediately closed it, the light hurting his eyes. He opened them again, more slowly this time and was met with the sight of Sherlock with bloodshot eyes and looking very pale and thin, proving he hadn't slept or eaten for a while. He had been staring off into a distance until Mycroft squeezed his hands.

Sherlock's head immediately snapped towards Mycroft and was having a hard time to control the tears of relief that were threatening to come down. He hugged Mycroft, taking care not to touch any of the wounds. "Good to be here too, Sherlock. Where am I?" Mycroft rasped.

"Seems like your time there has dulled your brains Mycroft. You are obviously in a hospital, being treated for blood loss, a bullet wound to the leg that nearly cost your leg, some broken and bruised ribs, malnourishment, a broken nose, a fractured hand, ripped out nails and many more I could list out" Sherlock said in a single breath, just to cover his relief and the dread he had for the past month.

Sherlock almost had a panic attack when he came to know that Mycroft had been kidnapped. He had just come out of his recent high and was sure that Mycroft would've called him the moment he was out to threaten him to a rehab centre if he ever did it again. Dreading what had happened, he called up his brother's assistant, Anthea, after a few days, only to hear the news that he had been kidnapped a few days ago.

He had beaten himself up everyday for not being able to help his brother out. Yes, they did have a complicated relationship. But that didn't mean that they didn't worry about each other. Petty grudges do not come in the way if one of them is in danger. Sherlock had used all his will power to not go back to using drugs, reminding himself that it was the reason why he couldn't help his brother.

So, after a month since the kidnapping, when he got the message that his brother had been found and was brought back to London, he immediately rushed to be by his side when he woke up, not caring about whatever scoldings he would get for showing any sentiment.

"How long have I been out?" Mycroft asked, squeezing Sherlock's hand to show that he appreciated him being there and showing him that he cared. "For about a week, brother. Glad you hadn't died. The doctors were surprised that the wounds were not infected." Sherlock said.

"Me too brother... me too. My life was saved, thanks to that stupid soldier who barged in alone and took four bullets that would've taken his life if not for the armour he was having. And that stupid soldier had actually been a doctor." Mycroft said softly. "Well... he broke the iceman then brother? With sentiment that too." Sherlock said with a chuckle.

Before anyone could continue, a nurse came in and announced that he had to be checked over and bandages had to be changed, making Sherlock leave his brother's side. 'Well good to be back. Though I hope I will meet those two someday" Mycroft thought as he laid down again.

"So... Doc, care to tell us about how you chanced upon those two? You did tell us that you would explain today since you were busy yesterday," Bill said. John sighed and looked around at the others, whose attention were upon him. He then proceeded to narrate his tale. In the end, one of them called out "You do realise that you wouldn't get any recognition from the public, but you are surely going to get a promotion!" and everyone laughed, eager to know what will happen when they report back to the base to give a report.

Thus the three of them parted ways, imagining that they would meet one day. Though they failed to realise that the day would arrive much sooner than they expected, in ways they did not expect.

 **A/N: That would be chapter two. I know it is quite blunt. But I wanted to cover the necessary details without dragging the story. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.**

 **It was only when I started editing that I realised that I had made a few errors as few people pointed out so... thank you for the advice! Will start editing the next chapter soon!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **Published on 28 May 2018**

 **EDITED ON 25 AUGUST 2019**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been two years since that incident in Afghanistan, one that the three of them couldn't forget about completely. As promised, Tony and Mycroft never revealed John's name or tried to contact him. John had tried to stay in contact with the two of them via Rhodes (which failed miserably mostly).

Mycroft had tried to search upon the random soldier but came with no results and had given up, not wanting to break the promise. He had tried to contact John via Rhodey but it was not that successful, considering the fact that he was constantly on the move..

Tony and Mycroft kept in touch in the name of business meetings and parties too. After all the kidnapping had made them inseparable friends (Though no one knew they were best friends). Tony was having a slightly hectic but great life both as Tony Stark and Ironman. He didn't like all the attention he was getting but had grudgingly put up with it for the sake of staying in the good side of the public.

There had been one time when John had come to the US in order to meet one of his friends and had accidentally bumped into Tony (still in the disguise of Johnathan) and stayed at the tower for a while, getting to know Tony. That was also the only time he had contacted Mycroft after the kidnapping.

Currently, John was wandering around in London, pondering on whether he should contact Mycroft or where should he look for a flat mate before the thoughts wandered over on how he had been invalided during the war as he tried to save as many people as he could. He had been on the way to become a Major when the accident happened, the shot on his shoulder and the leg made sure he retired early.

And that was a good nine months ago, two weeks he battled for his life, two months he had been in a coma and one and a half months under serious medication before he had been released and sent to physiotherapy for a month or two, and then staying with his slightly alcoholic sister until he couldn't bear with her anymore and started searching for a flat share.

And then there was the therapist who constantly told him to type a blog about his life, even though she constantly says that he had trust issues. And being a soldier, he obviously had trust issues and many personal and classified information, as much as it would help him by talking about it was still a secret.

Things started looking up that day when he had met Mike Stamford, his old friend from Barts and were catching up casually when the flat share topic was bought up, leading to John meeting Sherlock.

The moment he met Sherlock at the hospital, he could instantly see that he was a very unique person, but shunned by the society often for his intelligence. He could also detect signs of withdrawal from drugs and slight signs of abuse.

He was genuinely surprised when Sherlock had deduced him with ease, even though he did miss a few things and got a few things wrong, he was impressed and was welcome to live with that kind of a flatmate who was weird but also interesting, though he didn't try to show it much.

He was also slightly mad and upset at people shunning away geniuses of all types because of their peculiarities and unique style. Geniuses were always either hero worshipped (Tony who didn't like it at all) or underestimated to the point of insulting and abusing them without any reason. (Sherlock, who just wants some attention as he was always shunned away and lonely)

He could see how people had almost hero worshipped Tony for being Ironman but not much about the real Tony Stark. He was always assumed to be a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist who was humorous, sarcastic, arrogant and a little rude but never tried to look under that.

The only ones who saw the real Tony were, John, Mycroft and Coulson. No one saw that the genius had many masks that needed to be uncovered to know the real him. No one reasoned why he behaved that way or even if he liked to behave that way. It was something that made John mad, people jumping into wrong conclusions.

Sherlock was also a similar case. Even though they had met only about a day ago, he could already look through Sherlock's façade and look into the real, insecure, caring and greatly intelligent person he truly was. Most people tend to stay away from Sherlock for his weird habits or his cold demeanour but not John. He could see past the sarcastic, emotionless façade Sherlock had put up. The real genius locked up behind layers of masks.

He was totally blown out at the crime scene, he looked at Sherlock in awe as even though he deduced a few of it from when he checked out the circumstances of death, he was mind blown at Sherlock's deduction. He also didn't miss the glint Sherlock had in his eye when John had praised him.

He had almost chuckled at the enthusiastic side shown by Sherlock and was lightly sad when he had been left alone at some unknown place. Then he had been stalked over by public phones until he had picked it up, only to be kidnapped in a car.

Mycroft worried about his brother a lot, not that he showed it... but still cared about him. So when he got the news that Sherlock had got a flat share with someone, he was both surprised and suspicious. "Anthea!" he called out to his assistant and best friend. "There are cameras near the crime scene right? Pull them up" Mycroft said and stared at the screen.

'Seems like brother had left his new flatmate alone at the crime scene' Mycroft thought as he stared at Watson standing in confusion. He was surprised that his brother had trusted that man so soon for him to accompany him to a crime scene. He picked up the files left by Anthea about the flat mate and asked her to connect him to all the public phones near the man before asking her to pick up John to an abandoned warehouse.

While he chatted with John, he skimmed through the files he had about him and was quite intrigued by his history and he number of classified files he had under his name. He was curious about this John Watson fellow - Ex military, honourably discharged due to a psychosomatic limp and a shot to the shoulder, a Captain and a medic... Mycroft was totally looking forward to meet this man.

Mycroft was trying to take a peek of John from the camera, but he couldn't see much apart from the frown he could see on his face due to the darkness around. He was currently waiting at the warehouse, waiting for Anthea to arrive with John.

John, who had just been dropped off at that very warehouse was shocked for a millisecond at the sight of Mycroft but continued his stride, not to seem very suspicious to Mycroft. "Have a seat, John." Mycroft said as he pointed towards a nearby chair. John stills for a second, afraid that Mycroft had recognized him easily but let a small sigh in relief when he saw no signs of recognition.

He continued his stride towards Mycroft, ignoring the comment on his limp on purpose. "You know, I've got a phone. I mean, very clever and all that, but, er ... you could just phone me. On my phone." John said as he looked around the warehouse and walks straight past the chair and stopped in front of Mycroft.

"When one is avoiding the attention of Sherlock Holmes, one learns to be discreet, hence this place. The leg must be hurting you. Sit down." Mycroft said a little shocked but impressed at John's reaction and watched John give a slight frown at the mention of his limp. "I don't wanna sit down." John replied.

"You don't seem very afraid." Mycroft said, staring at John. "You don't seem very frightening." John replied, staring back. Mycroft was a little surprised at that as many people, even soldiers have wavered under that gaze but John didn't.

"Ah, yes. The bravery of the soldier. Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity, don't you think?" Mycroft asked as he was reminded of Johnathan when he talked with John, the way he spoke and held himself was eerily similar. 'Time for the real tests' Mycroft thought as he seized up John.

He held himself in a relaxed but alert position, ready to attack in a moment's notice, his hand stopped shaking the moment he entered the warehouse whereas it had been shaking slightly at the booth, well... literally he could say he was a wolf in a sheep's skin, a ferocious yet kind man.

Meanwhile John also had been checking on Mycroft. Hairline had reduced a lot, slight limp on the infected leg, signs of makeup... probably to hide scars or exhaustion and mostly does paperwork, umbrella is a inbuilt gun and often kidnaps people. Changed very much after the encounter.

"What is your connection to Sherlock Holmes?" Mycroft asked after he finished judging John. 'Probably his relative... preferably elder brother who doesn't show much affection but still cares.' John thought as he looked at Mycroft to answer.

"I don't have one. I barely know him. I met him yesterday." John said and Mycroft raised his eyebrow. 'Barely knows him but still easily trusts him? That is rare for Sherlock' Mycroft thought.

"Mm, and since yesterday you've moved in with him and now you're solving crimes together. Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?" Mycroft asked, slightly teasing him. He didn't notice John's blush when he asked the question.

John was slightly flustered at the question. A random stranger was asking him questions like this at night in an abandoned warehouse was a little weird. But asking questions like that was too much. It was like this guy thought he had a crush on Sherlock (Which he may or may not have)

"Who _are_ you?" John asked, wanting to confirm his theory about them being brothers or at least relatives being right. "An interested party." Mycroft said, wanting to test the soldier.

"Interested in Sherlock? Why? I'm guessing you're not friends." John asked trying to get something out of his old patient without trying to let out the fact that they have met before and also asking him to get to the point indirectly.

"You've met him. How many 'friends' do you imagine he has? I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock Holmes is capable of having." 'Then brother it is' John thought. John was also sad that his theory about Sherlock having not many friends coming true. 'Well... upto me to stand by him then.' John thought.

"And what's that?" John asked, interested on whether Mycroft would try to test him by saying something like enemy or if he would be trusting and truthful to him and reveal that he was his brother. 'Probably the latter though, as every genius has trust issues' John thought.

"An enemy." Mycroft said, wanting to test John on what he would do. John had to supress his smile at that as that was too predictable for anyone. 'Looks like I am in an interview on whether I am suitable to be Sherlock's flatmate or not' John thought as he caught on the pattern.

"An enemy?" John asked as he played along. "In _his_ mind, certainly. If you were to ask him, he'd probably say his _arch_ -enemy. He does love to be dramatic." John supressed a chuckle and pointedly looked around the warehouse. 'Typical sibling rivalry. But who am I to judge with the sibling I have. And Sherlock is a tad bit dramatic, one cannot deny that.' John thought.

"Well, thank God _you're_ above all that." he retorted as he knew Mycroft was a little dramatic too. Both of them are too childish even though they never realise this. Brief meeting with three geniuses with social problems had taught him that. Well... how can you explain about this kidnaping anything other than dramatic?

Mycroft frowns lightly at the comparison, just as John's phone trills a text alert. He immediately digs into his jacket pocket, takes out the phone and looks at the message while ignoring the man in front of him. The message reads:

 _Baker Street. Come at once if convenient.  
_

 _SH_

'Seems like my dear brother was just reminded that he had company' Mycroft thought. "I hope I'm not distracting you." Mycroft asked a little teasingly. "Not distracting me at all." John replied casually as he took his own sweet time to look up and pocket his phone to humour Mycroft.

"Do you plan to continue your association with Sherlock Holmes?" Mycroft asked, wanting to be absolutely sure as there had been instances where people had taken advantage of his brother a lot.

"I could be wrong, but I think that's none of your business." John replied as he knew that this was a test and he had to take this guy to be his enemy for the time being. "It _could_ be." Mycroft replied. 'Well... it very well is being the big brother and all but you will never admit it' John wanted to say.

'Better to play along' John thought as he replied. "It _really_ couldn't." John insisted. Mycroft took out a notebook from his inside pocket, then opens it and consults it as he speaks for the final test.

"If you _do_ move into, um ... two hundred and twenty-one _B_ Baker Street, I'd be happy to pay you a meaningful sum of money on a regular basis to ease your way." Mycroft said as he closed the notebook and pocketed it, waiting for the reply. 'Hopefully this soldier has the manners and morals like the other John. Sherlock needs someone trustworthy' Mycroft thought in anticipation.

"Why?" John asked, knowing very well that this was the final part of his test. 'Well... the soldier needs all his details before deciding. Hopefully he makes the right one' Mycroft wishes. "Because you're not a wealthy man." he said in reply as it was a valid reason.

"In exchange for what? John asked, reading in between the lines, a very common thing if you have been a soldier. "Information. Nothing indiscreet. Nothing you'd feel ... uncomfortable with. Just tell me what he's up to." Mycroft said. John raised an imaginary eyebrow. He does all the kidnapping to test loyalties the old fashioned way of bribery?

"Why?" John asked, wanting to humour up his old friend a little, not that the other one knew about this fact. "I worry about him. Constantly." Mycroft said, with not much sincerity. "That's nice of you." John said, equally insincere.

"But I would prefer for various reasons that my concern go unmentioned. We have what you might call a ... difficult relationship." Mycroft said and John could very well relate to it. Sibling rivalry was petty but still is unavoidable after all. His phone beeped again and he glanced at the message which read:

 _If inconvenient, come anyway._

 _SH_

Mycroft was staring at John, awaiting his answer in bathed breadth. Will he accept or decline? Will he pass or fail? Mycroft thought. As if sensing his impatience, John said "No." "But I haven't mentioned a figure." Mycroft said, just to be sure.

"Don't bother." John said, now very impatient to get back as he had things to move into the flat and was getting very late. "You're very loyal, _very_ quickly." Mycroft joked, knowing that he had trust issues.

"No, I'm not. I'm just not interested." John replied easily as he was never interested in the money, but he was interested to move in with Sherlock, mainly for the reason that he was interested in him.. not him but his job... yeah that's it. His job, not him.

Mycroft looked at him, deciding whether or not to bring up the trust issues and prove that he had read something about him but decided against it. Instead he asked: "Could it be that you've decided to trust Sherlock Holmes of all people?"

"Who says I trust him?" John asked, raising an eyebrow, while in reality he very well knew that he trusted Sherlock the moment he agreed on going with him on the case, even though he had trust issues as trust issues don't come in the way of danger after all.

"You don't seem the kind to make friends easily." Mycroft said, referring to the notes indirectly. "Are we done?" John asked, now slightly irritated by the man poking into his personal issues. "You tell me." Mycroft said, meeting John's eye.

John met his gaze without flattering and turned to leave. "I imagine people have already warned you to stay away from him, but I can see from your left hand that's not going to happen." Mycroft said smugly and a little relieved.

John stops dead. His shoulders tense and drop and he angrily shakes his head a little. He girts his teeth as he turns around and asked "My what?" Mycroft could clearly see that he had struck a nerve there. "Show me." he said as he nodded at the left hand, leaning casually as he expected him to give his hand.

John, however, was not intimidated and makes some actions like ha was contemplating on whether he should give his hand or not. He was sure that Mycroft had been a little better than this when he was hurt. He then slowly raised his left hand, bending it at the elbow, and stands still, clearly stating that Mycroft had t come to him if he wanted to see the hand.

Catching on the message, Mycroft strolled forward and reached out for John's hand, who retreated it back, fearing Mycroft would recognise him. Mycroft took it as the trust issue and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Didn't I say you had trust issues?' causing John to stretch back his hand.

Mycroft closely observes the hand and just said "Remarkable", not saying that he recognised him or whether there was anything wrong with it, causing him to retract his hand back "What is?" John asked, fearing that someone had missed out something.

"Most people blunder round this city, and all they see are streets and shops and cars. When you walk with Sherlock Holmes, you see the battlefield. You've seen it already, haven't you?" Mycroft asked.

"What's wrong with my hand?" John asked, ignoring the question flat out as he knew both of them knew the answer. "You have an intermittent tremor in your left hand." Mycroft said and John had to supress his urge to roll his eyes as he nodded.

"Your therapist thinks it's post-traumatic stress disorder. She thinks you're haunted by memories of your military service." Mycroft said thoughtfully. "Who the hell _are_ you? How do you know that?" John asked, completely annoyed at Mycroft. He knew that he was a government official but this was too much.

"Fire her. She's got it the wrong way round. You're under stress right now and your hand is perfectly steady." Mycroft continued, unperturbed by John's outburst. John glanced down and back up again, reigning his by taking in deep breadths.

"You're not haunted by the war, Doctor Watson. You miss it." Mycroft said as he met John's eye. "Welcome back." he said as he walked away from John, who stared at his phone that had pinged with another message and watches the retreating form of Mycroft, trying to deduce whether he had found out or not.

 ** **A/N: Did Mycroft find out or not? That will be revealed the next chapter. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated!****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 **Published on 5 June 2018**


	4. Chapter 4

_****"You're not haunted by the war, Doctor Watson. You miss it." Mycroft said as he met John's eye. "Welcome back." he said as he walked away from John, who stared at his phone that had pinged with another message and watches the retreating form of Mycroft, trying to deduce whether he had found out or not.****_

The moment Mycroft stepped into the car, he asked Anthea to hand over all the files of John Watson the moment she drops him off wherever he wants to be dropped off. He then returns to his office to keep an eye on Sherlock.

The moment he gets his hands on the files though, he was totally shocked. Seeing the Captain's past and all his records... he was... baffled? Surprised? It would be an utter understatement. He could see that Watson had been totally under appreciated for everything that he had done.

He was also surprised that none of his individual exploits had been mentioned anywhere. All the missions were under the file of leave, including the one where he had save Tony and Mycroft and this angered him a little. All the struggles he had gone through and being underestimated and under appreciated was something Mycroft couldn't stand.

He also gained a new found respect for the former captain, looking at all his achievements and dedication. He now knew that he could very well trust the doctor with his brother as he knew from his former experience that John was trust worthy and was the only one he knew who could put up with his brother.

So Mycroft sat back and silently drank his cuppa as he watched the monitors, completely sure that his brother was in safe hands.

John meanwhile had gone back to his flat to pack up and move into his new flat. And then was there was the chase on foot halfway across London in middle of eating. John had felt and enjoyed the adrenaline rush he had after a very long time, one that he hadn't felt since Afghanistan.

And then there was the 'drug bust' that just confirmed his suspicions on Sherlock being a drug addict before. And then there was Sherlock's mind blowing deduction about the tracker in the phone and cracking the code.

The only thing that confused John momentarily was the fact that the location pointed at 221B. It was also as mentioned only for a few moments but long enough to lose track of Sherlock to the cabbie.

The moment the officers went out, he took out the laptop and tried locating the cab, which finally stopped at a college, to where John wasted no time to call a cab and hoped that Sherlock would stall enough for him to reach there. He called up Lestrade on the way just to give him a heads up.

The moment he stepped out of the cab, he randomly chose one of the buildings and rushed inside, running along the corridors, shouting out for Sherlock. He finally stops in a room that is just opposite to the room Sherlock was... in the other building, and to his horror, just in time to see him putting the pill into his mouth.

Not wasting a moment, John instinctively took out his gun and shot the taxi driver close to heart and quickly went to hide, not wanting anyone to know he had shot the driver to his death. He cleared out any signs of him shooting the gun (apart from the bullet hole in the glass and the bullet itself obviously) and rushed downstairs to avoid any suspicions.

Mycroft meanwhile nearly got a heart attack when he watched the tracker on his brother pointing to a college and he panicked when there were police cars surrounding the very place. Panicking, he called Anthea to quickly take him to the college and sighed in relief when he found his brother unharmed there, along with the good doctor.

Sherlock had by then come down and refused another shock blanket while talking with Lestrade. "Why have I got this blanket? They keep putting this blanket on me." he asked, slightly pouting at the fact.

"Yeah, it's for shock." he replied. "I'm not in shock." Sherlock denied and Lestrade just rolled his eyes. "So, the shooter. No sign?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "Cleared off before we got 'ere. But a guy like that would have had enemies, I suppose. One of them could have been following him but... got nothing to go on." Lestrade said.

Sherlock just looked at him pointedly and said "Oh, I wouldn't say that." challenging Lestrade that he could catch the guy and starts to list off. "The bullet they just dug out of the wall's from a hand gun. Kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon – that's a crack shot you're looking for, but not just a marksman; a fighter."

By this time Mycroft had figured who had shot the guy and looked over at John, who was innocently looking over at Sherlock and Lestrade talking.

"His hands couldn't have shaken at all, so clearly he's acclimatised to violence. He didn't fire until I was in immediate danger, though, so strong moral principle. You're looking for a man probably with a history of military service ..." Sherlock trailed off, finally figuring out who he was deducing as he looked at John.

Lestrade too followed his line of sight and was about to comment when Sherlock just said to ignore him and said that it was the shock talking, not wanting to out his friend and started walking towards John.

"Now where are you going?" Lestrade asked. "I just need to talk about the rent." Sherlock replied calmly. "But I've still got questions for you." Lestrade stammered out. Sherlock just turned out, irritated at the sudden outburst and just snatched a blanket and wrapped it around himself.

"Oh, what now? I'm in shock! Look, I've got a blanket!" he said and walked off, ignoring Lestrade who was repeatedly calling out for him. "And I just caught you a serial killer ... more or less." Sherlock continued as he walked off.

Lestrade just shook his head as Sherlock strolled off, smiling slightly at his antics and turned to Mycroft. "Seems like John has really found a way to his heart." Lestrade commented to Mycroft. "And I do trust that man to look after my brother sincerely, he is trustworthy after all" Mycroft replied, with a small smile on his own face.

"John was the one who killed the cabbie right?" Lestrade asked him quietly. "That he is but don't you dare arrest him for that or else you would face both Sherlock and I" Mycroft warned.

"Wasn't dreaming of it. Sherlock trusted him pretty soon though. Running around crime scenes the moment he met him. He seems to do Sherlock some good." Lestrade replied.

Meanwhile Sherlock had taken the blanket off his shoulders and approaches John, who is standing at the side of a police car. Sherlock tosses the blanket through the open window of the car and ducks under the police tape.

"Um, Sergeant Donovan's just been explaining everything, the two pills. Been a dreadful business, hasn't it? Dreadful." John comments upon noticing Sherlock coming towards him. Sherlock just quietly looks at him for a moment before quietly commenting "Good shot."

John tries to look innocent and brush it of by saying "Yes. Yes, must have been, through that window." to which Sherlock just says "Well, you'd know." John just looks at Sherlock, unsuccessfully trying to hide his expression.

"Need to get the powder burns out of your fingers. I don't suppose you'd serve time for this, but let's avoid the court case." Sherlock said, pointing towards his hands. John clears his throat and looks around nervously.

"Are you all right?" Sherlock asked, slightly concerned at what John thought about killing a normal person. "Yes, of course I'm all right." John said, shrugging it off. "Well, you have just killed a man." Sherlock points out. "Yes, I ..."John said and trailed off. Sherlock just looked at him closely.

"He wasn't a very nice man." John said nonchalantly. Seemingly reassured that John really is okay, Sherlock nods in agreement. "No. No, he wasn't really, was he?" Sherlock asked, wanting to carry forward the conversation with one of his first friends who seemed to accept him.

"And frankly a bloody awful cabbie." John hummed in agreement. Sherlock chuckles, then turns and starts to lead them away. "That's true. He was a bad cabbie. Should have seen the route he took us to get here!" Sherlock exclaimed. John giggles, and Sherlock smiles.

"Stop! Stop, we can't giggle, it's a crime scene! Stop it!" John said, still trying hard to fight off the giggles. "You're the one who shot him. Don't blame me." Sherlock said, trying to fight off his own giggles.

"Keep your voice down!" John whispered harshly as they passed Sergeant Donovan. "Sorry – it's just, um, nerves, I think." John stuttered out as Sherlock backed him up with a sorry. "You were gonna take that damned pill, weren't you?" John clarified after they had passed Donovan.

Sherlock stops and turns back to him. "Course I wasn't. Biding my time. Knew you'd turn up." Sherlock said, trying to act innocent. "No you didn't. It's how you get your kicks, isn't it? You risk your life to prove you're clever." John said, staring hard at Sherlock.

"Why would I do that?" Sherlock asked indignantly. "Because you're an idiot." John replied. Sherlock smiled, delighted that he has finally found someone who understands him and doesn't care about his behaviour.

"Dinner?" Sherlock questioned, pointing out their half finished dinner. "Starving." John replied in turn. "End of Baker Street, there's a good Chinese stays open 'til two. You can always tell a good Chinese by examining the bottom third of the door handle." Sherlock ranted off.

As he has been speaking, he spotted Mycroft standing with Lestrade, chatting casually. John, wanting to confirm his suspicions and at the same time wanting to keep up with his act. "Sherlock. That's him. That's the man I was talking to you about." John said.

"I know exactly who that is." Sherlock replied, confirming a part of John's suspicions. 'Now just for the other part...' he thought as they walked closer to the man and stop, Sherlock looking at Mycroft angrily.

"So, another case cracked. How very public spirited ... though that's never really your motivation, is it?" Mycroft queried. "What are you doing here?" Sherlock asked, slightly irritated. 'Not a very good relation between the two then' John thought.

"As ever, I'm concerned about you." Mycroft replied. 'Another part correct' John mused. "Yes, I've been hearing about your 'concern.'" Sherlock deadpanned. "Always so aggressive. Did it never occur to you that you and I belong on the same side?" Mycroft asked partly curious, partly sarcastic.

"Oddly enough, no!" Sherlock said. "We have more in common than you like to believe. This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer ... and you know how it always upset Mummy." Mycroft said, completely confirming John's suspicions. 'Brothers it is. No wonder the relation is this damaged.' John thought and mentally chuckled.

But still John frowns as if unsure of what he just heard. He had an act to keep up after all. "I upset her? Me?" Sherlock asked, totally not believing it. Mycroft just frowns at this. "It wasn't me that upset her, Mycroft."

"No, no, wait. Mummy? Who's Mummy?" John asked, feigning confusion. "Mother – our mother. This is my brother, Mycroft." Sherlock pointed out, as if it weren't obvious. "Putting on weight again?" Sherlock asked Mycroft, wanting to rile him up.

"Losing it, in fact." He replied calmly. "He's your brother?!" John asked, still not 'believing'. "Of course he's my brother." Sherlock deadpanned. "So he's not ..." "Not what?" Sherlock asked as the brothers pointedly looked at him.

"I dunno – criminal mastermind?" John asked, totally wanting to humour them. "Close enough." Sherlock replied. "For goodness' sake. I occupy a minor position in the British government." Mycroft protested humbly.

"He is the British government, when he's not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis." Sherlock explains in detailed. Mycroft just sighed at his brother's antics. "Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home. You know what it does for the traffic." he stated, clearly wanting to get away.

Sherlock walked away and John started to follow him before stopping and turned to Mycroft. "So, when-when you say you're concerned about him, you actually are concerned?" John asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yes, of course." Mycroft replied. "I mean, it actually is a childish feud?" John asked, now really curious. "He's always been so resentful. You can imagine the Christmas dinners." Mycroft sighed. "Yeah ... no. God, no!" John exclaimed.

"How is Stark by the way?" John asked, carefully searching Mycroft's face for any recognition. "Stark who?" Mycroft asked, feigning innocence. "Well Mr. Carter, hope Mr. Anthony Jackson is doing well" John said, clearly stating that he knew that he knew.

"Nice to know you are doing well as well Johnathan. Keep him safe. Good night Dr. Watson." Mycroft said in dismissal and John walked back to Sherlock, who was waiting for him impatiently. 'Seems like the world is really small' John thought as he walked away with Sherlock.

"Sir, shall we go?" Anthea asked Mycroft, watching the receding figures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

"Watson could be the making of my brother – or make him worse than ever. Either way, we'd better upgrade their surveillance status. Grade Three Active." Mycroft said with a smile. "Sorry, sir. Whose status?" Anthea asked.

"Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson." Mycroft replied. "Are you sure that you can trust Dr. Watson with this though Sir? He is new after all." Anthea asked doubtfully. "I trusted him with my life once and I am alive today. Fate has brought the man who saved me to my brother and if he is the same then I am sure that he would protect Sherlock at any cost." Mycroft said as he proceeded to depart.

 ** **A/N: Hey there people! I know long time no see and all but exams suck dude. Good thing I had got at least a few days break to complete this chapter. Hope you all liked it though! All comments and criticism are appreciated and accepted.****

 ** **So... due to school, exams and homework, my updates may be a little bit slow... sorry about that though. I really can't help it.****

 ** **Anyways... Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 23 July 2018****


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Happens sometime after The Blind Banker. This was something I thought up recently so don't blame me if it seems a little weird.**

It was right after that bank case that John first encountered the American. John was a little mad at Sherlock giving him a cold shoulder since the case, even though he knew that it was partly his fault, after all it seemed to Sherlock that John thought of him only as a colleague rather than a friend.

Both of them got into an argument and then, John stormed out of the house. He was walking along the streets when he suddenly heard a gunshot from somewhere and he immediately took out his pocket knife in reflex and looked around, only to find a man bleeding out with no one else in sight.

John immediately rushed towards the man, who was bleeding very badly and did a once over on him to check for any other injuries before cursing and taking out his phone to call an ambulance, only to find out that his phone was out of service and no one else was in sight.

Sighing, John tried to drag the man to at least the pathway so that he could do some basic cleaning of the wound when he suddenly noticed someone was standing behind him and tensed, discreetly reaching for his knife.

"Relax. I am not here to hurt anyone. I was with the man who is currently hurt and came here when I found him in this state" the man stated calmly. "Ah! I am not going to hurt him, just checking the severity of the wound. I was an army doctor so I can check your friend up. Sadly the hospitals are far away and he might bleed out before we make it there." John said and looked around.

He then spotted something that might help. "Do you mind carrying your friend over to that tailor shop there? He needs some urgent stitches and while I do have an emergency kit on me, I am out of twines to stich it up." John explained and the man nodded and effortlessly carried the man to the tailor shop that was currently closed for lunch.

"Um... excuse me... can I you know... my friend is hurt and that kind doctor over there has agreed to help me but we need some things from here... do you mind?" the man asked, pointing over at his friend and couch with his head and the people immediately set to work on helping the man to the couch.

"Can I please have some clean cloth, thread, needle and hot water? Thank you" John said as he received the things immediately. He then set to work on his patient, gently clearing off the blood around the gunshot wound before extracting the bullet with a pair of tweezers and patching it up before working on the other wounds.

After he finished treating him, he came over to the friend. "You are very lucky Mr..." "Barton" "Mr. Barton that your friend only had an injury that just missed his collar bone. And he is also suffering from a minor concussion and I would suggest him to rest for three days before he even thinks of getting up." John said.

"Thank you for helping my friend Mr..." "Watson" "Mr. Watson. We must be leaving now as my other friends would be searching for us. A pleasure meeting you and I hope we will meet again." Barton said and shook John's hand before proceeding to carry his friend outside after thanking the shop owners.

"Oh! And Mr. Barton, I would suggest that you take care of your ear after you reach safety. It might help." John pointed out and waved at the receding figures and sighed. He had noticed that Barton fellow fingering his ear as if he couldn't hear anything properly and hence, pointing it out.

John then headed towards the flat again, longing for a shower, not noticing the fact that he had successfully operated with his still nerve damaged hand until he reached 221B. The first thing he noticed was that Sherlock was not at home and he didn't mind it that much. After all, no one knows what he is planning on doing.

But the thing that shocked John was that Sherlock had come back with a grocery bag and a takeout with him as that man never did any shopping. "Ah John! Nice to see that you've come back. I wanted to apologise to you about my behaviour for the pas few days and hence, this." Sherlock said, gesturing to the bags.

"I am the one that should be saying sorry Sherlock. I hadn't meant it that way and I didn't mean to offend you." John said. "And now, lets dig in. I think we have a lot to catch up in this short gap we've had now... don't we?" Sherlock inquired and John laughed, the tension finally leaving.

The second time he had met that American was when he had been in search for his brother. Turns out that John had been adopted after they decided that they didn't want twins. And now, he was searching for a man named Phil Coulson, the only living relative he had left.

It was an accident actually. He was just going to meet Mycroft on some issue when he bumped into him. They both fell down with a huge thud, groaning. "Sorry" they both said, rubbing their heads.

The man then helped John picking up his file when he spotted something that intrigued him greatly. "Excuse me sir... can you tell me what your name might be?" he asked. "I am John Watson sir. Though I doubt it is my last name... is your friend Mr. Barton by any chance? I didn't catch your name" John replied.

"Oh! Where are my manners. I am Phil Coulson and yes, Barton is my friend... So you are the one who treated me uh? I've been searching for the doctor who stitched me up in a tailor shop. Barton has been praising you endlessly on that. Good for a cup of coffee?" Phil asked.

"Always ok for a good cup of tea. I know one nearby. Shall we?" John asked and soon they were at a café, getting to know each other. "Is it ok if I ask you as to why you were there?" Phil asked curiously.

"Um... seems like the Watsons had adopted me and so I've been searching for my birth parents ever since. Turns out they died in an accident and had a son named Phil... I wonder..." John trailed off as he stared at Coulson. "Why were you there Phil?" he asked.

"For a similar reason to yours. My father left a letter telling me about a twin that they gave up for adoption called John..." their eyes widened in realisation at the same time and exclaimed softly "You are my brother!" at each other and started chuckling at the fate that joined them.

"Nice to know that I saved my brother from bleeding to death in a tailor shop." John said. "And thank god for the accidental bumping else we wouldn't have even met" Phil said. "Look at the time. Its time I go or else the director is gonna be pissed. Meet you later?" Phil asked.

"Your choice on when. Call me and I will try my best to be there, depends on Sherlock though. You can never guess what he will do. Until then" John said as the two of them stood up. "Until then." Phil agreed and shook hands before parting ways.

The next time they met, Barton was with them and the 3 of them hit off very well, Sherlock thought that he had dates whenever he met up with his brother and John didn't mind that. Life had been peaceful but it couldn't be like that for a long time right? 'Cause danger is always round the corner.

 **A/N: A small filler chapter before another big one. What do you think about Watson and Coulson being brothers? Finally brought in Clint and Phil, like I was wanting to do for a long time. The next chapter will be from The Great Game obviously. I know that the tailor scene is a little unnecessary but I couldn't leave the idea. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasnak signing off :) ;)**

 **UPDATED ON 6 AUGUST 2018**


	6. Chapter 6

****A/N: This chapter solely revolves around The Great Game. A small warning though. The sequence may not be in order and I may have omitted somethings of the plot. Major warning for some torture here! If you wish to skip it, I will mention where it will start and end so that you may have the choice to skip it.****

John was a little pissed off at Sherlock. He had been on the run like a mad man around this guy who kept on giving crimes to him, not caring about the victims that were captured a single bit. Always stating that "Caring is not an advantage" constantly.

It was true, the one who had sent the puzzles must be a true genius, rivaling Sherlock in his brains to keep all of Sherlock's attention on the puzzle as he was one who never backs down from this type of challenge.

But John could control himself only a little before he snapped. And snap he did. He had this whole outburst on how Sherlock did not care about the victims' life and when Sherlock replied with his caring is not an advantage, it made John even more angry and listed out every person he had cared about before leaving the house quietly, so as to not to alert Mrs. Hudson.

Well... it turned out to be a huge mistake for John as the minute he left the flat and turned to an alley to clear off his mind, he was ambushed and drugged and taken away to some place.

When John woke up, groaning at the huge head ache from the drugs and the first thing that hit was the smell, the smell of huge loads a chlorine. 'Must be near a swimming pool then' John thought as he opened his eyes and it indeed confirmed his suspicions as he could clearly see that he was in a swimming pool changing stall.

He tried to move but that was when he noticed that he had been chained to the ceiling, arms spread out, shirt ripped off his body though there were nothing else that seemed to indicate that he had been hurt.

He tried to struggle against the chains to break free, only for it to clang around loudly, successfully managing to bring whoever had kidnapped him in front of him. "Seems like someone is eager to start the party!" he said as he switched on the lights, allowing John to recognise him.

"Jim? Molly's boyfriend" John asked, just wanting to confirm that he was seeing the right thing. "Ah! How rude of me not to introduce myself Johnny boy. James Moriarty at your service" he introduced himself with a small bow, causing John to frown.

"I've been waiting for this moment for long Doctor Watson. From the day you led that solo mission that almost destroyed my terrorist ring." Moriarty said as he circled John, who gave out no emotion at the man who was circling him.

He then mentioned to someone who had apparently been on standby nearby to pull up the chains, the sudden movement causing John to strain his bad shoulder, barely biting back the scream that was about to escape him.

"It was a luck that we were hanging around the place you raided on the last mission and by sheer luck, got the shot that damaged your shoulder, causing you to retire. From then on, I've been eagerly waiting to meet you again and seems like my luck hasn't run out as I am meeting you here today." Moriarty said as he came to a stop in front of John.

John scrunched up his face, slightly bracing for the pain that he thought would come if Moriarty was about to do what he thought he would do, which was exactly what he did. He lifted his hand to touch the bullet wound, slightly stroked it before leaving it and backing away.

He made his way to the nearby table that John had not noticed before, a table that held all the torture weapons. "It is time to start the party" he said as he giggled out loudly with an evil glint in his eyes.

 ** **(Warning: Torture starts here)****

John shuddered at the look Moriarty gave, who was currently looking at the tools laid out at the on the table, running a hand over each and every thing until his hand stopped at a wicked looking whip which was a lot of whips with metal shards on them. Looking at the slight wince John made the moment he set his eyes on it, Moriarty grinned and picked it up.

"Time to teach the bad boy a lesson!" he cackled as he approached John, who was bracing himself for the pain to come. Moriarty didn't disappoint either. He quickly brought down the whip on John's bad shoulder, slicing the wound along with a part of his chest and back open, causing John to give out a muffled scream.

"I think 20 lashes would do for now..." he said and as promised, he stopped after 20 lashes. John was silently crying, breathing heavily as blood flowed from his bleeding back and chest.

"Now that's more like it" Moriarty said as he looked at John as if he was examining his master piece. He then held out his hand to receive some bottle and a pocket knife. Moriarty first threw the bottle at John, like he was using him for target practice, the glass shattering at his back and the liquid pouring out of it, causing the wounds to burn.

"Wouldn't want to wounds to be infected now.. would we?" Moriarty asked, as he approached with the knife. "The loyal dog to Mycroft and Sherlock. I think we need to imprint it somewhere..." Moriarty said as he approached John's other shoulder and raised the knife.

"I think that would be a nice spot for the drawing... wouldn't it?" he asked and started carving something on the shoulder, causing John to scream loudly. "That is more like it." Moriarty said as he continued carving, occasionally slapping John awake.

"And done." he said and stepped back to admire his artwork, a MH and SH with a heart around it. "The perfect tattoo for the loyal dog. Now I guess it comes to the finishing touches." he said as he extended the hand to receive a lighter.

"A final tattoo to remind you of our lovely time." he said darkly as he lowered down John's pants and boxers, leaving him completely naked. "That is a lovely ass you have there John. Pity, I can't do that to you. I would've enjoyed it. But maybe I can do this." Moriarty said as he heated the knife in his hand.

John shuddered at the feeling of Moriarty doing that to him and screamed out hoarse when he felt the searing hot pain in his inner thigh from the burning knife. Soon, there was a branding on John's thigh with the letters JW along with a circle around it, finally letting John become unconscious.

 ** **(Warning: Torture part over)****

The next time he woke up, he was still hazy from blood loss and pain but managed to hold on and stand up, noticing the bomb jacket around him. 'The final riddle was me apparently' John thought as he heard a voice in his ear asking him to get outside and speak whatever he was told to speak.

John didn't want to comply to the voice but grudgingly did so, trying to bite down the pain from where the jacket pressed upon his skin. He noticed that he was wearing fresh clothes and all his wounds had been cleaned out, suspecting that Moriarty didn't want Sherlock to know about it right then.

It hurt John to see the look of betrayal on Sherlock's face when he came out of the stall. He sent a look of hatred to Moriarty whenever he could, trying to hide the look of pain that flashed whenever he was slapped on his back.

Soon, the whole conversation was over and Sherlock was starting to suspect that something had happened to John in the 6 hours he had gone missing. While going out, Moriarty discreetly activated the bomb, that did not go unnoticed by John.

Ignoring his pain, he pushed Sherlock into the pool with all his effort, just in time for the bomb to set off. John felt himself being pulled down by an extra weight, and saw that Sherlock had been hit by a piece of debris and was currently unconscious.

Not wanting his friend to drown and die, he pulled up Sherlock to the surface and pushed him outside the pool with great effort, at the same time felt his conscious fade away and he closed his eyes against his will, his hands slipping off the edge.

Not long after, Sherlock regained consciousness, his head throbbing loudly as he woke up. He woke up just in time to see John sinking into the pool that was blood red. He immediately dived in and pulled John out, checked his pulse the moment he was on ground, finding none.

He desperately tried to remember CPR, he really did but with the huge concussion and the scrapes here and there, he was having a hard time concentrating. He tried to put as much force as he could behind each pump he did but he barely got the result.

Sherlock was soo frustrated that he had nearly cried out in relief and frustration when the police and medics reached there, thanks to the message he sent to Lestrade earlier and Mycroft bringing in the medics. Soon, Sherlock and John were rushed to the hospital, Sherlock never leaving the side of John before passing out from exhaustion.

Sherlock then woke up two days after the whole pool fiasco, the first thought was about how John was. He immediately got out of bed, not caring about the dull throbbing that was still there and enquired about John to the passing by medics.

Soon, he ran into Mycroft and demanded to see John that very instant, only to be pacified by Mycroft, who thought that he could not take it to see how John was in his current state but managed to fill in how Mycroft was connected to John previously when he asked why Mycroft was so concerned about John, though he left out the part of Tony being there with them.

It was only after two days that Sherlock got to see John when he woke up and was horrified at the sight in front of him. The body was littered in scars, but the most prominent ones were the carving and the branding that nearly brought Sherlock to tears.

But the look John gave to him when he opened his mouth to say that he was sorry for all this was soo hard that Sherlock didn't say anything. "Do not apologise for that. He has had this grudge on me for a long time and acted on it through you. So it is not your fault." John stated clearly.

"But I should've noticed it sooner John. I didn't notice that you were hurt sooner. Or we could've escaped sooner!" exclaimed Sherlock. "And that wouldn't have happened as he wouldn't have let us go. He did have snipers to shoot and a bomb if we tried to do it Sherlock. So again, not your fault. And it was covered well.. I can give you that" John said.

Apparently this had satisfied Sherlock and they both stayed silent for a while before Sherlock said "So... you took in four bullets for my brother.", startling John at the sudden statement. "Well... I did take it for him as I was rescuing him. I would've probably been dead if not for the bullet proof vest." confessed John.

"I am glad that I had met you." confessed Sherlock and they stayed together till John was discharged and allowed to go home after most of his injuries had healed very well. He would have many scars and nightmares but the most important thing was that both Sherlock and himself were alive.

 ** **A/N: That was chapter 6. I know, it killed me to write this chapter but I had to do it for the plot. I am usually not this type of a writer and this is my first time so.. yeah. Hope you all liked it though. All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.****

 ** **The next chapter will consist of The Fall and maybe some things before that and then the main plot begin. And... I was thinking on whether to combine Captain Spark No Wait Stark? with this story. If you haven't read it, please read it and comment.****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 11 August 2018****


	7. Chapter 7

****A/N: This revolves around the whole of season two as I am feeling pretty lazy to explain each and every episode in that season and I really want to move on with the story. This chapter will mostly be a narrative though with no or little dialogues.****

John was no stranger to PTSD due to wars but the recent messing up had seemed to escalated it to a next level. Not that his psychosomatic limp had come back but he was flinching often at sudden physical contact for some time. He managed to get out of that phase mostly though but it never went away.

Then came in the case of The Woman who unnerved him a lot, though he knew it was no way her fault but he felt a little uncomfortable around her. Though he did enjoy the way Sherlock punished that agent who threatened Mrs. Hudson. (He will never admit it loud though)

He was about to heave a sigh of relief when he heard the news that Irene had died but had felt sad for Sherlock as he had no reaction to the news. This lead to John conclude that either Sherlock was silently mourning her or, he had somehow managed to save her.

John mostly considered option two more as Sherlock seemed like he had honestly felt challenged by her and he somehow considered her somewhat like a friend. John didn't mind it or question Sherlock about Irene and the mysterious trip he had made.

Then came the case in Baskerville. John was hurt a lot when Sherlock had said he does not have any friends. He understood that Sherlock was not at the right state of mind, coming in terms from the memories of the terrifying hound he had encountered but that did not mean that he was not hurt by the comment.

They did make it up to each other quickly but that was something John could never forget. Because honestly speaking, a person with whom you had struck an immediate friendship and trusted each other easily,, then suddenly one comes and says, I don't have any friends when you obviously had one was a little hurting.

Though when Sherlock said that he was his only friend, it had made John a little proud and sad at the same time as a man with such intellect was neglected and treated cheaply. No one truly realised how insecure and soft hearted he was and always saw him as a show off and freak who never cared.

After this came The Fall. John had never expected that to happen when Moriarty had surfaced again and trapped Sherlock in a series of puzzles again. Honestly though, he should've expected it after all, he was one of the most seriously injured victims of them all (Apart from the lady who blew up).

They had again been given a set of puzzles again and were set about running, solving them. John didn't know whether he should sigh out in frustration or laugh out at the childish innocence shown by Sherlock when he was given a mystery.

This was one habit of Sherlock that John didn't like, barging head on to solve mysteries, not caring on whether it was a trap or a genuine thing. And turns out, this one was a trap that they didn't realise till it was late.

Moriarty had played them very well with the crimes, framing Sherlock easily, making up fake records to frame him and succeed in it... John had to appreciate the brains of this guy for all the detailed planning he had done.

And then he made the mistake of leaving Sherlock alone due to a false alarm. It had been glaringly obvious on what he had been planning but he had failed to realise it until the last second.

Because... seriously? He had seen what Sherlock had done to that agent who had threatened to harm Mrs. Hudson and now, when they were called saying that she had been injured seriously, he would stay back?

He should've suspected that something had been fishy when Sherlock had said not but no! He had to call him a machine (Even though it was an on the spot thing and not what he really felt), leaving Sherlock alone to plot an escape plan and contact Moriarty.

By the time John realised the ploy, it was too late and Sherlock had been chatting with Moriarty. Though he seemed to be focused on Sherlock primarily, he had subconsciously noticed his surroundings that he was not aware of (luckily)

The way Sherlock spoke to John on the phone hurt him the most. Basically telling the one who understood him the most (Other than Mycroft maybe) that everything about him was a lie and basically confessing that he was going to commit suicide broke John completely.

The moment Sherlock's body hit the pavement, John rushed towards him to at least try to save him but someone had to dash into him and prevent him from doing so. The next few days for John were some of the worst days in his life.

He got the message that his brother had been killed by some psychopath god who wanted to take over the earth, his shoulder had to get inflamed from the harsh fall to the ground and on top of that, Sherlock and Phil's funeral was coming up.

Phil's funeral was something that only Clint and John did alone as no one else knew that Phil and John were brothers. It was a silent affair that no one knew about, not even Mycroft.

Sherlock's funeral was also somewhat of a small event but with more people who knew him. John could not speak with anyone there as they all had some sort of connection with the late detective and the memories were still fresh and painful for him.

John could not blame Greg for whatever had happened as he had been helpless and was taking orders and there was nothing he could've done but still had helped a little during their small escapade.

John had been left alone after the funeral to spend some time in privacy that everyone understood, considering that they had been very close before he died. John had sensed someone around him when he visited the gravesite but ignored it and continued with his confession. If he had looked around though, he would've spotted Sherlock.

Sherlock was feeling guilty for leaving all the ones he loved in the dark, letting them think he was dead. Well... it was better than him roaming around with everyone he loved dead right? Anyways... it was just until he destroys the network and then he is done.

John was still angry at Mycroft though. Just throwing out information on someone to get whatever you want, especially your own brother's was something that totally put him off when he heard Mycroft's confession.

The following months were devastating and long for John, who was still grieving over his best friend and his brother. He shifted his home, the memories still fresh for him. He was visited often by Clint, Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade and Mycroft to keep a check on him.

Life was mundane for John, it was a far cry from the time he had with Sherlock or with the army. He had got him limp back unfortunately, not as strong as before but still was there. And so did some of the trauma from the Pool.

It wasn't like he completely recovered from it earlier but with all the deaths of his close ones had escalated it a little more and the main anchors were gone, resulting in the trauma to increase (More nightmares yay!)

Little did he know that this mundane, boring life of his was going to take a whole 180 degree very soon. After all, he was going to have to have a broad mind for whatever was going to happen!

 ** **A/N: It took longer than I wished to write this dumb chapter but... I am going to go off track with the Sherlock series after this. Sherlock visits John and vice versa but John won't go back to 221B to settle permanently after Sherlock comes back.****

 ** **Hope you all liked it though! After this its all mostly related to Avengers. All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated.****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 19 August 2018****


	8. Chapter 8

It has been a little over a year after John's life had turned upside down, only to turn another 180 degrees. John had been coping with Sherlock and Coulson's deaths very well than expected and even though it is a little tough for him to talk about them right then, being pissed off and mourning. yet was coming to terms with it.

Currently, he was running around London, wondering why a car was following him wherever he went like they wanted to kidnap him or interrogate him. He was wondering why they were after him and recounted whatever happened in the past two months.

 _John had been sitting at his apartment, contemplating what had happened the past year. It was exactly a year since Sherlock and Coulson had died and he was recounting what had happened when Sherlock had fallen._

 _He had been surprised that he could still vividly picturise everything that had happened, including the conversation. Curious, he checked whether he had seen anything subconsciously when Sherlock was falling and was surprised that everything that happened around him when Sherlock had been falling was timed, systematic, almost like everything had been preplanned._

 _He then recollected the conversation, 'It is all a magic trick John' he had said, which implied that... "That son of a bitch" he growled, pissed off that Sherlock had faked his death without informing him, his best friend, leaving him to mourn after him for a whole year._

 _A few days later, Lestrade had called him for a small trip of touring England to take his mind off things when he encountered one of the weirdest things he had yet to witness. The two had been passing through a college when suddenly a weird portal had opened up, showing what looked like various worlds shown through a screen._

 _Catching sight of the local police around, he immediately assumed command, the officers also followed him without complaint and assisted John in evacuating the college before any ruckus started but before they could completely evacuate, some weird elf like creatures came in and started attacking._

 _John along with a portion of the force retaliated while the others evacuated the remaining people. John was thanking his stars that he had brought his gun with him that day else he didn't know what he would've done. That was also when Thor had arrived._

 _He had heard a lot about Thor from his visits from Clint but honestly speaking, it was an amazing sight to see Thor fighting in full vigour with the elves. Streaks of gold and red were exchanged and John stood transfixed for a second before realising that someone had been stuck in the middle of the fight and was about to be hit by the lightning and the red streaks_

 _Without thinking, John went forward and pushed them both to the ground, covering the boy as the streaks clashed and fell on John. It was painful for a moment but disappeared before a blink of the eye. John just shrugged it off and managed to take the boy away to safety. The first major event he shouldn't have shrugged off though._

 _He was there till the end of the fight and the rescue and helped anyone injured to get medical help. While he was looking around, assessing the damage, he came across a hammer lying down in the path. He went on to move it towards the side, not before giving it a few swings and checking out the designs on it._

 _He set it down when Lestrade called out for him to leave the place, saying that the local force will take care of the rest. As he went away, he failed to see that the hammer had flown back to Thor. That was the second major incident that led him to the current situation though._

 _A few days after the incident, John started to notice some weird things. Whenever he became too emotional, the electronics around him would start to malfunction, often in very bad days, an occasional spark flew out of his hand._

 _The other thing was the accelerated healing he had suddenly developed along with the ability to predict what someone was suffering from without even examining the person along with how to cure them. Like whenever he treated someone, he could just see flashes of what he is suffering from and the symptoms and all._

 _John had freaked out when this had happened the first time, thankfully no one noticed it. He then started exploring the powers, thankful that he had moved out of 221B by that time as it would've been difficult to explain all this to Mrs. Hudson. He never knew why all these powers came all of a sudden._

 _He then practiced the powers until he had control over them so that it wouldn't show unless the emotions were extreme. He had also found a way to project the flashed onto some paper or a hologram when he was alone and it helped him a lot._

Which brings us to the present day of John running around streets of London, trying to throw off the car out of his tracks. He had been followed around al morning and feeling annoyed, he went into a narrow alley way, sensing that someone would come out of the car to get him.

As he had suspected, he could hear the car door opening and footsteps approaching the alleyway. He waited patiently in the shadows for them to reach his hiding place, quickly knocking one of them out, a man he noticed, alerting the woman at the same time.

It was a long fight between the two of them, equally matched one too. While John had the brawns and a little tactics, the lady had agility and experience on her side. It was John's cunning that had finally allowed him to win the fight and he was able to set them down in a recovering position before starting to come out of the alley.

"Freeze" a familiar voice called out as John walked towards the opening of the alley. John turned around and stared at he figure pointing the gun at him. "Coulson?" John asked as he stepped out.

"John! What are you doing here? Did you see two agents here? I have been searching for them and..." he said, only to stop when John slapped him hard on his face. "What was that for?" Phil asked as he rubbed his reddening face.

"That was for acting like you were dead and making Clint and I suffer for one whole year. And you still haven't told the Avengers that you are alive have you?" John asked angrily. "And you don't even check who you are targeting brother? After following me all this way, you are asking me what I am doing here?"

"Um..." was Phil's intelligent replied and had the decency to look sheepish and ashamed. "Agent Coulson... do you know him? And why did he call you brother?" someone asked. "Because Skye, he is my brother John, and I of course know him. I don't know why he wanted me to call him in though. He just showed me a grainy picture and so I couldn't see features clearly. Sorry John." Phil said.

"Maybe we can discuss this over my apartment over a cup of coffee? Clint actually just left this morning you know? You could've met him if you had come sooner." John said. "And don't worry, your agents do not have any serious injuries, just small cuts." John reassured Coulson.

Sometime later John and the team reached the flat, only to see Mycroft and a few of his bodyguards standing around. "What are you doing here Mycroft?" he asked. " Well... I had seen you getting into a car after speaking to someone who looked a lot like a SHIELD agent to naturally I was curious and I came here to make sure you are ok." Mycroft said.

"Well... I am well so can you please leave now?" John asked. "Not unless I get to know why they wanted to bring you in." Mycroft replied, turning to Phil at that statement. Phil just sighed and said "Skye, patch through to Fury. I was just told to bring him in and I wasn't given a reason." Coulson said as Skye patched through.

"Did you get the man Agent Coulson?" Fury asked. "I got him but we are in a situation with the British Government here." Coulson replied, giving a small grin to John, who just looked down. Sensing something wrong, he decided to ask John later.

"Don't tell me Mycroft Holmes is there." Fury groaned. "Actually yes, I am here. I want to know why you want to bring in John Watson. All I gave permission was for the clean up and the footage from whatever cameras were working." Mycroft said.

"You won't believe what John had done. He is one of the main witnesses of the fight and did some unexpected things." Fury explained. " And what would these unexpected things be?" Mycroft asked. "Why don't you look at it yourself?" Fury said as he played the video of John picking up the hammer and the scene where John had been hit by the white and red streaks.

Everyone except Phil, Mycroft and John watched it with their jaws dropping to the ground. "Why am I not surprised" Phil muttered as Mycroft just said "You always do the unexpected." John just sat there, confused on what had happened. "Well... I lifted a hammer and some lights hit me. What is special about that?" he asked after the connection to Fury had been cut off.

"If you had ever paid attention to what I had said before, you would've known that you had lifted Thor's bloody hammer that a whole city couldn't move an inch." Phil said. Mycroft surprisingly didn't question about how they had met.

"And for your information, the 'lights'" Phil said, putting lights in air quotes "were streaks of lighting and some alien substance that you have somehow survived without any side effects. What do you think we must do right now?" Phil asked.

"Maybe contact Thor and say that we are coming as if he had lifted the hammer, we must ask him to train as it would be dangerous. Do you want me to come with you or not?" Mycroft asked.

"Well... no thank you Mycroft, I will go with them for this without you, if the hammer test turns out to be positive, we will call you to discuss further on what we should do. And no spying." John said as he got up to leave with the team.

They were soon at Jane's residence, where apparently Thor was residing currently before he was to go to the Avengers tower. On the way, John had managed to fill in on whatever Phi had missed during the past year, especially Sherlock's death.

Phil knocked on the door and it was immediately answered by Selvig, who seemed fine without that naked act where he was proclaimed mad and all. "Glad to see you alive Agent. Got word that you were dead and all. I am assuming that you wanted to see Thor?" he queried.

"Important matters Dr. Selvig. It would be nice to know where Thor is right now." Coulson said. As if summoned, Thor entered with Jane and Dracy. "Where is my iPod suit?" Dracy asked as Thor approached Coulson and clapped him hard on the back. "Good to have you back Son of Coul! I was overjoyed when Heimdall said that you survived." he exclaimed.

"Nice to see you too Thor. But I have some important matters here. All of you, this is Dr. John Watson and had lifted your hammer Thor and apart from that, he was hit by a stray lighting of yours and that red substance..." Coulson said.

 ** **A/N: Chapter 8 people! I think the chapters are getting shorter the more I write the story. Anyways, the next chapter most probably be more longer and it will contain details on John with the hammer and him most likely leaving to the Avengers.****

 ** **Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated. I wrote this in 2 hours surprisingly.****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 13 September 2018****


	9. Chapter 9

**_**"Nice to see you too Thor. But I have some important matters here. All of you, this is Dr. John Watson and had lifted your hammer Thor and apart from that, he was hit by a stray lighting of yours and that red substance..." Coulson said.**_**

Everyone present in the room just stared at John in shock with wide eyes as if wondering how he was even alive. John shuffled uncomfortably from all the stares, not meeting anyone's eyes. "He picked up Mew - Mew?" Dracy asked. "He doesn't even have much of muscles and all..." she said, eyeing John.

"What are you the doctor of? You got hit by the Aether and lightning two months ago. How are you even alive? Did you experience anything strange after you got hit by it? Better yet, how did you first of all get hit by it?" Jane asked rapidly.

"Well... I used to be a field surgeon but now I work at a local clinic. I don't know... was that supposed to do something? I was travelling with my friend along the college when this portal opened and weird elves came in... the both of us along with the local police helped in the evac. When Thor and that elf were fighting, a boy was in the middle so when I got him out of the way, the lightning hit me along with the red light..." John explained.

"Well... from what I know about it, it is known to be able to convert matter into dark matter, and has a bond like a parasite with its host. and trust me, I know how it was experiencing it myself. Once bonded, the energies of the Aether slowly consume any mortal host, and also have a volatile and deadly effect on any who come into contact with the host in a manner that the Aether perceives as threatening." Jane said.

"Well... I haven't felt weak or some weird energy coming out of me whenever someone tries to harm me or I don't know what it would've done when I fought with Agent Hill." John said with a wince, shocked that he had been exposed to something that dangerous.

"Maybe it had to do something with the fact that you had also been hit by lightning maybe. And you said you lifted my hammer. Shall we see if you can lift it now?" Thor asked. "Well... I would like to give it a try but before that... you asked me whether I was feeling weird... does this count as one?" John asked as he quickly scanned Phil with his eyes before willing it to form a hologram with all the details.

The others just stared at John in awe as he mentally produced a hologram of whatever injuries and illnesses he had sustained all along, especially the most recent one being Loki. "And this happened after that fight in the college campus?" Selvig asked, coming forward to touch the hologram out of curiosity and it was perfectly solid.

"Yeah and also the electricity used to flicker a lot when I was emotional and trust me, I was going through a rough time then so I was kind of freaked out when the lights started flickering. I've got it under control though, somewhat." John said.

"Maybe we must do a blood test on you to see the effect of the lightning and Aether on you John. My best bet is that when they collided with your body, they somehow merged and caused this to happen." Jane said.

"And when were you planning on telling this to me brother?" Phil asked. "When I got to know how I got the power." John replied back instantly. "Wait. Suit has a brother?" Dracy asked. "Well... I do have a brother who I was separated from at birth and we only met three years ago so chill." Phil said as Thor summoned his hammer and put it down.

"Lift it up Dr. Watson. If you do, I think I must test one more thing before we discuss on what we are going to do further." Thor said. John took in a deep breath and reached out his hand to clasp the handle and said a silent prayer before pulling at it, the hammer too coming away smoothly.

"Well then Doctor, I think you might want to remove your shirt and go to the balcony for this. I want to see if Mjolnir has completely accepted you." Thor said. John, a little uncomfortable in removing his jumper, hesitated a little before giving in and removing it, revealing his body except for the part his undershirt covered.

Many of them stared in shock at the scars littered all over his body, the most prominent ones being the MH and SH with a crude heart around it on one shoulder and the bullet wound on the other. Even after three years, the bullet wound still looked gruesome. Most of them averted their eyes from the scar wound, John just looked at his brother who gave him an encouraging look.

"Wow. I take it back. He is ripped." Dracy said, ogling at the muscles. John lifted the hammer again and looked at Thor. "So... I just lift it up?" he asked. "Yes, and if she accepts you, she will award you with an armour of your own." Thor said.

John, who was currently holding the hammer in his dominant hand knew that his shoulder with the bullet wound would feel strained while the other shoulder won't be in much pain. So he shifted hammer to his right hand and lifted it up, praying that nothing should happen.

But of course with John's luck, something happened. There was lightning and thunder heard around, one flash of lightning hit the hammer and proceeded to travel through John's body, leaving a traditional Asgardian armour in its wake.

It was just like Thor's, a lightweight and flexible chainmail which was extremely comfortable topped off with a cape, which was a mixture of blue with small designs in black. John admired his armour and looked up to see a grim Thor, an excited but stoic Coulson and the rest of them open mouthed.

"You might need some time to train your new found powers Doctor. If let without proper training, it will do you more harm than good." Thor said with a grave look on his face. "I guess I should call up Mycroft then?" John asked with a sigh as Coulson nodded.

"Where did you first meet Mycroft?" Fitz asked. "Afghanistan" was John's instant reply but never elaborated after that. The only ones who knew it were Mycroft, Tony, later on Coulson and himself and he wanted to keep it that way. He just called Mycroft and asked him to come ASAP.

The following discussions were all very serious. Where would it be safe for John? Must he practice it here or should he go to America? "Let me just summarise it right now. He was hit by some lightning and a foreign substance and then developed some healing abilities and can diagnose anything in a single glance and can lift Thor's hammer?" Mycroft asked.

When everyone nodded in affirmative, Mycroft sighed and came to a decision. "John, I think it is better for you to go to the States as it seems Thor is going there anyways and you need to train yourself. Fury want you to be Thor's backup in case he isn't here. I get it that you might want to stay here but it is for the best." he said.

John was internally jumping with joy. Yes, he would miss everyone here but nothing was the same here without Sherlock and he desperately needed a change in scenery and this was the perfect opportunity for him. "I am ok with going Mycroft. And please don't threaten anyone there about me please. Maybe just hide a few files about my personal information as I would like to tell it to them myself when I trust them." John requested.

"Anthea is going to have so much fun with that request. And alright, I won't threaten anyone. Maybe it is time that you met him you know, he is gonna be pissed of that you didn't contact him yet." Mycroft said.

"Maybe that was in order for me to do. I can see you have a question for me Dr. Froster. What is it?" John asked. "You said you were a field surgeon/medic, yet your scars say otherwise Dr. Watson. Were you in the front lines? And please call me Jane. Can I have some blood samples? I would like to examine how the Aether has affected you." she asked.

John contemplated on what to tell her for a minute before opening his mouth. "Sure Jane. I was a field surgeon but I was also a Captain in my time in the army Jane. The bullet in my shoulder caused me to retire." John said. "What about your other scars? They seem to be a little more recent?" Selvig asked.

"Well... running around with a genius does that to you who loves crime does that to you." John said with a shrug, not wanting to talk about it. He knew Sherlock was alive but it still hurt that he did not inform him before faking his death and it was a little tough to come out of grieving.

"I think it is better we leave at the earliest so that you can come back sooner. I think you might enjoy your time there though Dr. Watson" Thor said. "Just call me John Thor. I need to pack up though so... I'll meet you all at the airport tomorrow?" John asked and they agreed and they dispersed after Jane took some blood sample from John.

John went back to his apartment, dropped by Coulson thank god and started packing after telling Coulson to meet him in the morning by 221B. He then called over Lestrade to 221B and informed Mrs. Hudson that he will be coming there soon. After packing everything (Not that he had much to pack in that lone apartment) he took a cab to 221B.

There, he had a long chat with the two of them on what had happened and what he was about to do. They spent the rest of the day chatting around memories and went out to eat as a goodbye treat for John. Mrs. Hudson pampered John relentlessly, gushing out on how she was going to send some of her home made goodies to America and for him to call them often.

John was taking a final look around the apartment that night before going to sleep where he found a picture of himself and Sherlock at the Chinese restaurant after their first case. He picked it up along with Sherlock's skull as a remembrance and payback for Sherlock to find his favourite skull gone.

He then quickly wrote a letter and stuffed it in his pocket, grabbed a coat and went to the cemetery to visit Sherlock's grave one last time. He had been visiting it since he had found out that Sherlock hadn't died and found out that someone visited the grave once a week so he planned on leaving the letter there so that one of Mycroft's men could collect it and give it to Sherlock.

After the quick visit, he had been thoroughly exhausted and went to bed to catch as much as sleep as he could with all the nightmares he will be having. The next morning, he woke up quite early, got ready and hugged Mrs. Hudson a goodbye before leaving with Coulson.

"Ready for the days ahead John? And also, I wanted to ask you whether you would be interested in flying with Mjolnir?" proposed Thor. "No thanks Thor. I will maybe take some flying lessons before I even think about flying with your hammer. And honestly speaking, I am quite nervous on meeting the team." John said.

"Fury has asked the team to assemble tomorrow and get a room ready for you in the tower brother. So that problem is solved. The only issue will ne to get along with them, though I think you would fit in quite well with them." Coulson said.

"Well brother, whatever your boss says, I am going to drag you to the meeting if you hadn't told them that you are alive yet, even if it means that out that you are my brother. Honestly though, it is quite rude that you leave them mourning when you are still alive. They are yet to get over your death." John said.

"I was planning on revealing it along with our relationship when we reach New York, don't worry." Coulson reassured. "Ok then. If you shy away, I will kick your ass and drag you along, remember that. And thank you for everything here Mycroft. Will see you in a year or two, maybe sometime after Sherlock decides to come back from the grave." John said, whispering the last part.

Mycroft just stood shocked and then nodded. "I have asked Fury not to give any file with your details as I know you would like to disclose it yourself with time. Though I suspect you will drag it out just for him to get frustrated." Mycroft said.

"Maybe I will. Let us see. Good bye Mycroft." John said as they both shook hands. John then boarded the plane, off to the next adventure.

 ** **A/N: Chapter 9 is longer as I promised. And I am surprised that I wrote this in... 1 and a half hours give or take. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated. The next chapter will be the start of John staying with the Avengers (Finally!)****

 ** **One doubt... how long must John take to reveal his story (Time period and not chapters)****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 15 September 2018****


	10. Chapter 10

After a long flight to the States, which had a lot of chattering and sleeping so that John could get adjusted to the time difference, they finally landed and John immediately got out of the jet to look around the place, he noticed that there were no crowds.

"One of the private landing facilities we have John. Its not far off from the tower. Do you think I need to give Clint a heads up?" Phil asked. "Well... I'll call him up and just say to expect a surprise visit. That way he wouldn't guess its you but it is a fair warning." John said, wanting to see Clint's face when he sees Phil.

John was very nervous on the way to the tower, his hand started shaking a little but managed to cover it up easily by curling his hand into a fist. "Nervous John?" Phil asked. "A little bit. I mean, it is the team that fought aliens Phil!" John exclaimed.

"And you are the one who survived a lightning and a dark alien substance and got powers from it. You are the one who ran around with a sociopath detective. You are the one who was a field surgeon and a Captain at the same time John. You will get along very well. You already know two members of your team." Phil assured.

"Hope you are right." John said as he looked out as the looming tower came closer.

 _Meanwhile at the conference room, Avengers Tower_

"Why is this urgent meeting called for Fury?" Tony demanded from his seat. "I assure you it is for an important reason Tony." said Thor. Just then a message alert came from one of the phones and everyone looked around to see whose it was, only to find out it was Clint's, who furrowed his brows at the message.

"What is it Clint?" Steve asked. "Nothing much Cap, just something that I will look out for later." Clint replied. The others left it with that, not wanting to pry into his life. They all waited quietly for Fury to speak up, who was surely taking his own time.

Suddenly, JARVIS spoke up. "Sir, there seems to be two people who wants access to come up here and one of them looks a little familiar." he said. "Send them up J. I think they are who we are waiting for." Tony replied immediately.

A few minutes later, the door opens and a short blonde man walks in, a little nervous. "Where is he?" Fury asked him immediately as Clint was open mouthed while Tony had a look that said 'I think I know him from somewhere'

"He wants to wait out Fury, something about being nervous to meet them and all." he said, rolling his eyes. "Scared to meet them brother? Afraid on how they will react?" he taunted. Immediately they heard a shuffling before the doors opened again and in stepped Phil.

"You had to do this." Phil said with an exasperated sigh as many cries of "Is that Agent?" "Phil is alive" rang around, even from Fury. Only Thor seemed to remain calm. "What to say? Revenge is sweet." John said cheekily. The first one to react was Clint, who hugged John and punched Phil hard.

"That was for you to fake your death. And may I ask why John is here?" Clint asked. The others had chosen to sit down and have a nice chat with him later. "You know him?" Natasha asked. "Well... met him in one of my missions with Phil. That was one damn mission. John helped to roughly patch up Phil." Clint said in a way to explain.

"That doesn't still explain why he is here though." Bruce said. "All surprises aside, this is Doctor John Watson and is going to be a part of the team." Fury said.

"But he is still a civilian Fury." Natasha said. "A very powerful civilian who can lift Thor's hammer." Fury said as if it explained everything and conveniently forgetting to mention the powers he had. It did leave everyone with open mouths though.

"No way in hell you could lift up Thor's hammer!" Tony exclaimed as the rest of the team exchanged bewildered looks. Thor just looked at them smugly before gesturing John to catch his hammer, who caught it with ease.

"That is.. Damn that is cool man!" Clint said as he looked at John with awe as Tony and Natasha eyed him, each of them for their own reasons. Tony for the familiarity and Natasha for his worth. Bruce and Captain were curious to get to know more about him while Thor was already comfortable with John.

"I guess I will leave you all to get acquainted. Coulson, your team is scheduled to leave tomorrow." Fury said and left, leaving John and Coulson at the team's mercy. "So... how long have you been alive Agent? And... do I know you form somewhere John?" Tony asked.

"Honestly speaking, only for about 7 months I guess. 3 months in coma, two months in recovery and the rest with my new team." Coulson replied. "And yes you know me from somewhere. I think you were a little out of commission at that time, so it might be hard to remember me." John said with a grin.

"And when did you know that Coulson is alive John? As the last I saw you was yesterday and you were still like grieving over him." Clint said. "I got to know that he was alive after you had left. He followed me around everywhere on Fury's orders. Didn't even have the courtesy to inform me that he was alive." John said.

"I won't be surprised if he will also come back from the grave." Clint muttered. "What is your field of study Dr. Watson?" Bruce asked. "Well... I was initially surgeon but an injury made me shift to an ordinary doctor. How about you Mr...?" John asked.

"Bruce Banner. Good to have a real doctor here then. It will be a relief to have one. Medicine is not my expertise, I just know that basics on a few things from my experience on the run. I more into gamma radiation though." Bruce said.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Romanoff. Finally got a chance to meet you after hearing the great things Phil and Clint have said about you." John said. Natasha just gave an unimpressed stare and returned a nice to meet you.

"Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you Dr. Watson." Steve said with all formality. "Nice to meet you too Captain. Phil never stops talking about you whenever we meet." John said with a smirk, causing everyone to snicker while Phil and Steve blush.

"He has always been a Captain America fan since childhood John. What did you expect?" Clint asked. "Honestly, I expected this. But I think you have controlled your obsession... or not?" John asked.

"Says the guy who had an alien thing flowing through his blood." Phil retorted. "Alien thing flowing through the blood? What happened?" Tony asked. "Well, it happened during the elf conflict. I was hit by Thor's lightning and... Aether was it? Yeah Aether and Jane suspects that it has merged with my body." John said.

"Oh. Ok. Hey! Why are you staring at me Dr. Watson? Find something interesting?" Tony asked with a smirk as he caught John staring at his arc reactor. "No. Just that your the thing in the middle of your chest looks a little different... Never mind." John said.

"The reactor? It kinda keeps me alive even though I have removed the shrapnel as if I remove it, my chest will be exposed to air and all. You must know what will happen right doc?" Tony asked.

It may also mean that you had met me after I had it implanted. That immensely reduces the number of people I have to look through." Tony muttered sarcastically with a groan. "Can you please tell me where I have met you?" Tony pleaded.

"Nope. I am going to wait until you guess. It is fun watching you get this frustrated." John said. "You said that an injury left you unable to be a surgeon. What happened?" Steve asked. "Was at the wrong place in the wrong time." John said, not wanting to talk about it. The others sensed this and left the topic alone.

John suddenly started feeling a little tired from the flight and all that happened in the past two days catching up with him. "Would you mind if I go to my room right now? I am a little exhausted right now, a long journey and I really need to unpack." John said.

"Oh alright, I'll show you to your floor and give you a tour later on. Your floor is just above Bruce and below Clint's. I haven't personalised your room yet as we didn't know much about you. No one can access any of the other's rooms without their permission, the only exception being when you are in danger or in distress or something like that." Tony rambled on the way to John's floor and show around.

"So... you have your own floor with a mini kitchen, a living room, a few guest rooms if you are having someone over, your own bedroom and all your essentials I believe. Please enjoy your stay." Tony said as he exited John's floor to let him get his much needed rest.

After Tony left him, John looked around in slight awe. The room was the largest he had stayed in as of yet, expensive but comfortable. 'Tony definitely could choose something apt for others.' John thought as shouldered his bag and went into his room.

"Need any assistance Dr. Watson?" a voice asked out of nowhere, making John jump at the sudden voice. "Sorry for startling you Dr. Watson. I am JARVIS and I look after the tower." it said.

'Definitely not a human security behind the screen as Tony wasn't really the type to trust anyone to let someone behind the screens to look into private areas so it must be robot... but judging the slight emotions displayed, he would think it was something more.

"What are you Jarvis? Definitely not a human behind the screens but not also a robot. A sentient program created by Tony?" John asked curiously. "Somewhat like that Sir. I am an AI created by Mr. Stark and as I said, I look after the tower so you could ask me anything you want if you require assistance Sir" Jarvis said.

"Thank you JARVIS, but I am quite well for now. I just require some rest. Can you wake me up if anyone is calling me?" John asked as he placed the skull and the photo on the nightstand after staring at it for a while.

"Certainly Sir. Anything else Sir?" JARVIS asked. "Nothing JARVIS. Thank you. One small doubt... why dis he create you with a British accent? Oh, please do call me John though." he requested. "Sure John. I don't know the exact reasons but I believe it is for a sentimental purpose." Jarvis replied as John laid down.

Two hours later, he was woken up by insistent knocking at the door and JARVIS announcing that Mr. Coulson and Mr. Barton were there to check upon him. John groaned and lifted himself off the bed, trying to tame down his bed hair as he went to open the door.

"What do you want?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry John, but we wanted to check on how you are settling in and wondering whether you would like to have some lunch with us downstairs as its 1 in the afternoon." Coulson said.

"Wait here then. I will freshen up and come in a minute." John said and went towards the bathroom to wash his face and tame his hair before coming out. "Ready to face them again?" Clint asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. It might be a few days before I trust them with everything but for now, I don't want to tell much about Sherlock and that life." John said with a sigh. "They were all discussing about you for a while after you went out you know?" Coulson said.

"I don't mind that Phil. We all have trust issues and it might take a while to get used to a new member you know nothing about." John said in understanding. "Do you still want to tell them that we are related?" Phil asked. "I say why not as you obviously know them and all." John said.

"Then that is going to be the talk of the table." Phil said as they reached the communal kitchen. "Seems like they have ordered takeout today, Chinese I believe." Clint said, knowing that John liked Chinese.

"Great. As I am kind of starving right now." John said as they entered the room filled with a lot of chattering. The moment they stepped through though, all conversations stopped. The three empty seats were occupied and plates were filled before the conversations began again.

"Where did you first meet Agent, Dr. Watson?" Tony said. John, wanting to pull his leg, just said "When I first met Clint." "And when was that?" Natasha asked. "Well... about roughly two to three years back." John replied.

"Clint said about you patching him up. Any interesting story for us to know?" Bruce asked. "Well... aside from the fact that Phil had a minor concussion, a bullet near the collarbone and was knocked out when I met him, yeah." John said.

"Don't forget the fact that you patched him up in a tailor shop John. A freaking tailor shop." Clint said. "I am going to never live that down." Phil muttered as the team was not sure whether to laugh or stare at John in amazement. "Not a big deal." John said.

"Well it is a big deal considering you did it only a few months after the accident that got you retired as a surgeon." Phil stated and the team stared at John in wonder. "So I believe that your injury was in your hand?" Bruce asked, seeing the tremor in his left hand.

John, who noticed the line of sight, curled his fist to prevent it from shaking much. "Yeah." John said, not much comfortable with the questions. Sensing the discomfort, Steve decided to change the topic. "So... Phil, Clint and you seem very close to each other..." he asked.

"Well, they are brother so of course they are close." Clint exclaimed. "Brothers!" the others chorused. "Twin brothers at that." Clint added, leading to more outrageous cries. "How long have you known this?" Tony asked.

"Don't worry, just a few months after the tailor shop incident. Turns out I was adopted and all that shit, went in search of him and found him accidentally." John said.

"You seem to be adapted to treat anyone anywhere." Natasha asked, eyeing John, military cut, the stance was also a little similar... as much as Natasha wanted to voice out the suspicion, she wanted to give John sometime to adjust as everyone entitled to have secrets.

"What are your plans John?" Phil asked. "Well... maybe some training might help if I am going to be in the team, Thor had proposed to teach me Asgardian culture and all... other than that, nothing else to do." John said.

"And you have yet to see America dude. So keep in sight seeing definitely on that list." Clint said. "And shopping. You really need a room décor." Tony added. "Along with the movie nights and team bonding exercises." Bruce popped in. "Wow, I am going to be busy then." John said.

"Right, we can make up a schedule if you want later. Now that you have finished, I am going to take you on a tour through the tower. You can ask JARVIS if you need assistance with anything." Tony said and gave John a tour of the tower.

"I can't place it but you feel very very familiar. At least tell me the time period we met!" Tony whined suddenly in the middle of showing John through the training area, which had a few punching bags, various guns, targets, a ring in the middle and a lot of free space.

"No Nope Nada. Not gonna tell you. Figure it out yourself." John said, thoroughly having fun messing with Tony. He reminded him a lot of Sherlock and it was partly a welcome relief. Finally, Tony left John back at his room, who immediately went to bed to sleep, thoroughly exhausted by the events of the day. Though it was a welcome change for him at the same time.

 **A/N: So... John has come and is living with the Avengers. Please tell me if you seem that this is going in a fast pace or very slow or something. Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated. And also open to suggestions. It is confirm JohnXTony. Any other pairings for the others is open.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **Published on 17 September 2018**


	11. Chapter 11

****A/N: A fair warning here, which I might not have given before and is applicable there too, this fic has not yet been edited and the characters will be a little OoC because I feel that this characteristics suit the characters in this story. If you feel uncomfortable with this version, then I am sorry.****

 ** **Also, I do not own Marvel or Sherlock.****

For once after a long time, John had a peaceful sleep without any interruptions from nightmares or any other calls. Maybe it was from the utter exhaustion or something but John had slept through dinner and night, a well deserved sleep anyone will say if they had met John.

The next morning, he again woke up to insistent knocking on the door and someone shaking him awake. "Just some more time please." muttered John, wanting to enjoy his peaceful sleep in a long time.

"John, it is 10 in the morning. You have slept for almost a full day. And Fury has called me to leave in an hour." Phil said, hating to wake up his brother from a peaceful sleep.

"Alright, alright. I'm up Phil. Just get out and I will be out in five." called out John sleepily as he got up and slowly dragged his feet to the bathroom. Exactly five minutes later, John came out, fully dressed and freshened up, totally ready for the day.

"So... no nightmares for once?" Phil asked. "It is a boon actually. A night without nightmares is very rare these days." John said as they moved to the kitchen. "So, you are leaving me with a pack of wolves and going to enjoy with your team?" John asked.

"Yup, unfortunately. Which reminds me... Fury contacted me yesterday to ask me to inform you that you are also going to be the team's handler along with me." Phil said and John groaned. "You are leaving me as the handler to this team!"

"Yes I am. Good luck with that. I would advise you to open you to open up soon though. Because they will really get impatient and you do know they also have trust issues, especially Tony and Natasha you know." Coulson said.

"I understand it brother but I am not ready to you know, say everything that has happened yet. It just... sometimes becomes too much to recollect." John confessed.

"I know John. But please at least tell Tony about that thing. As much as it is amusing, it is better you tell him before he calls _him_." Coulson said.

"Tea for you?" John asked as they entered the kitchen and Coulson just shook his head. "Oh hey Clint and Natasha... can I call you that?" John asked as he set out to make some tea.

Natasha gave him a nod acknowledgement while Cint gave him a chirpy hello. "So... Doctor Watson, hope you slept well" Natasha said. "I slept very well, thank you, the best sleep in a long while" John replied honestly.

"And as I was saying Phil, I think Tony can kind off figure it out. Maybe I will give him one clue. JARVIS, tell Tony that it is a secret." John said with a wink. "Oh! And I know that _he_ definitely won't tell Tony and will be annoyed at the constant pestering." John said, completely ignoring the people at the table.

"Um... Oh hello there Clint, Natasha, Dr. Watson and Phil. Is that tea?" Bruce greeted as he entered the kitchen. "Hello Dr. Banner, please call me John. I was making tea for myself and I made some extra if you would like?" John asked as he poured the tea into cups.

"Oh I would love that. Thank you. Running on coffee sometimes doesn't help. And please call me Bruce." Bruce said as he accepted his cup. "Pulled up an all nighter I would believe?" John queried, taking in the tired eyes, the black circles around the eyes, something that he had noticed himself when he couldn't sleep.

"Yeah, I know I need to sleep and all but the project required my full attention." Bruce replied. "Oh not gonna pry but please head to sleep or I will gladly wrestle with even the Hulk to get you to sleep." threatened John, completely serious about the threat.

"And Bruce, don't even think that he is joking even though tone seems to be so. He will definitely do it and I am talking out of experience." Phil and Clint said in unison, which was a bit creepy.

"So... Can you tell us more about this tailor shop incident, I think Clint deliberately left out something and I am curious actually." Natasha confessed.

"The 'Tailor Shop Incident?' You didn't get any other name for it Clint?" John asked exasperatedly. Clint just shrugged and John sighed. "Well... I was walking around London and I heard a gunshot, rushed to the spot, found him bleeding, didn't have much medical supplies to stitch up the wound and so I took him to the tailor shop and patched him up." John said.

"And you did it with that injured hand which shakes all the time perfectly." Clint added, still in awe at the man. "Though I doubt that you are here only because you had lifted the hammer. And I got your clue and it did NOT help at all so please give a more informative clue." Tony deadpanned as he entered the room.

"Good morning to you too Tony and I have given you enough clues." John said with a cheeky smile, completely enjoying Tony's impatience. "As for the reason I'm here, I'm not willing to talk about it right now" John said uncomfortably.

Tony seemed to want to pry out more but everyone's look at him shut him up. "Where are Steve and Thor?" John asked. "Steve is probably out jogging while Thor went to Asgard regarding something, probably to report on your feat." Tony informed.

Coulson looked at his watch and sighed. "Regrettably I need to leave right now. I think I will be able to visit you as I am still your handler but I think John will be able to handle you much better than I did." Coulson said with a wink to John and waved before heading out.

"Great, just left me with a pack of wolves just like that." muttered John too loudly and Tony gasped and held his heart, looking a little hurt. "I am hurt John, thinking that we will pester you on everything." he said and John shook his head at Tony's antics.

"I know you have gone through a lot, especially after _him_ but we all have also had our tough times." Clint said seriously. "I know Clint, that was totally me being annoyed at my dear brother for leaving me alone here with people I don't know much about, excluding you." John said at Clint's look.

"Ok everyone, I think we need to get back on track. What is John's time timetable here? Like all of us have specific times to do our daily chores and we all take turns but since John is here, I think he should also you know, participate in the team bonding and all." Tony mentioned.

"Good idea Tony. Hey there guys! Coulson left already?" Steve asked just returning from his jog. "Yeah. Fury was pressuring dear brother to leave this place soon and placed me as the team's handler without asking me it seems." John grumbled.

"Look at the bright side though. No annoying anonymous people to pry into our personal lives." Bruce comforted. "I guess that is true." John conceded. "Something is better than nothing. Want to spar now John?" Clint asked.

"Seriously Clint? Asking a doctor to spar with you?" Natasha asked, not able to believe what he was suggesting for a minute. "Trust me Nat, you will be surprised with what you will find." Clint said seriously as John accepted the offer.

Everyone curious, headed towards the gym to the sparing mat. "Any bets to be placed with Bruce as he is mediating this fight. State your side and let the match begin, strictly hand to hand combat, nothing more, nothing less." Clint declared as he removed his shirt for better mobility while John remained in his jumpers.

Both of them got into the sparing ring, testing out their limits and mobility range before getting into the ring. "Ready to lose John?" Clint asked with a smirk on his lips. "oh! Let's see who loses today birdy. You are soo going down." John taunted back as he waited for Clint to strike and he did strike, one solid punch to the gut, that was expertly stopped by John before giving back his own punch to the face, which was blocked and a kick to the leg, which hit the mark.

Clint fell to the ground and swiped John off his feet before he could do anything else and John quickly rolled back up, simultaneously giving Clint time to get back up on his feet. The next set of blows and kicks were kind of a blur, quickly given and equally fast blocks before John got lucky and quickly got Clint into a chokehold, causing him to accept defeat.

Everyone just sat there, blinking at the scene in front of them, Clint on the floor, held by a doctor in a chokehold, a spy defeated by a doctor. "Slacking in training Clint?" John asked with a smirk as he released the chokehold and held up his hand for him to get up.

"Well don't get this win over your head as you are so going down the next match. I was actually holding back on you." Clint said. "And I should believe you on that as this pretty boy, is the fifth continuous match you have lost with me and I don't train as much as you do. Keep up Clint." John said and Clint groaned.

"Who has won the bets here Bruce?" John asked. "I should say no one." Bruce confessed as everyone handed in their bid to John, who happily collected it. "That is some skill you have John. Are you sure you were not a spy?" Tony asked. "Being friends with two spies will do that to you. Had to know self defense." John said with a shrug, speaking half truths the whole time.

"JARVIS, you did record this right?" Natasha asked, with a mischievous look in her eyes. "I am going to regret this right?" Clint asked as he looked at Natasha. "I think very much bro. Have fun with that." John said as he headed to his room to wash up.

"Alright, this means that he has had combat training before, he is agile and quick, meaning you can literally say that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I mean, look at the way he fights! Granted that Clint isn't much good at hand to hand but he is decent to fight and defeat a civilian who had little to no training." Natasha said.

"My guess is that he is a spy or... maybe a soldier? Idk about that but seriously, he has some pretty good skills. And I noticed that you were avoiding to hit his shoulders even when it was completely undefended. Why is that?" Tony asked.

"Well... if I did so, the fight would've ended a lot sooner and you wouldn't have gotten a chance to see his full potential at fighting. And no, it is his story to share and not mine at all so do not pester me about it." Clint said firmly and went off to get cleaned up himself.

"So... that settles John's time table. He will be included in all the chores in the tower, an hour or two of training in the morning for him, and the rest, I don't know unless you guys have something for him to do?" Natasha asked.

"Maybe Thor will teach him all the Asgardian things later on some time must be allotted for it. Other than that, I don't know much about his interests, maybe sight seeing will help him pass time or books, interaction with the team will help to break trust issues I know we all have and lots of bonding." Clint decided and everyone agreed.

"I just want to know another clue for gods sake John! This is getting too much!" Tony said with a frustrated sigh. As if John had heard him all the way to his room, JARVIS said "Dr. Watson wanted me to convey that it is a secret known to very few and also said that you look cute when frustrated." JARVIS said, his voice filled with humour.

"John!" Tony let out a frustrated cry, pulling at his hair, causing everyone to laugh and Tony pouted. "Alright guys. Let me freshen up and prepare the lunch while you go do whatever you want to do till then" Steve ordered and everyone complied. "A secret known by few uh? That certainly brings it down a little." Tony later on mused as he headed towards the lab.

 ** **A/N: Yeah, I know that it is quite a late chapter and is not that much interesting but I've been busy for the past few weeks and managed to write it in the time had in between all the work I had. I promise to update the other books this week too mostly but it depends on the time I have.****

 ** **Anyways, hope you all liked it! All editing will come later on so I think you might have to put up with this lame chapter for a while. All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated though.****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 singing off****

 ** **Published on 19 October 2018****


	12. Chapter 12

After that spar with Clint, John went up to his room, wanting to get cleaned up before he planned on what to do next. He knew that Clint had dragged him to spar on purpose to show off to the team but he guessed that it wasn't that bad as now the team could know what was his capability.

Before going into the shower though, John turned around and said "JARVIS, if by any chance Tony asks for any other clues, just say that it is a secret known to few."

"Alright Dr. Watson. Though, may I know where you actually met him?" JARVIS asked curiously. "I might tell you but... very few know about it..." John replied.

"Then please answer this one question Dr. Watson. Is it somehow related to Afghanistan? Because I fairly recollect sir telling me about a soldier who foolish enough to come into a terrorist sight alone and rescue him and another prisoner. Sir tells me everything." JARVIS said in a quite amused tone.

"Alright JARVIS, you caught me there" John conceded. "As I said, very few know about this detail you know. And also tell him he is cute when he is frustrated." John said and went into the shower.

One long shower later, John came out and dressed up, before he sat on his bed, shirtless to call Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade. It was the usual, "Yes I am fine" "No, they didn't do anything" "And No, they are not forcing me to do anything" "Yes, I will call you often." to both of them. The rest of the day was comparatively boring with just having some lunch before everyone parted ways.

The next few days had been relatively peaceful apart from the occasional sparing with the assassins and soldier in the tower, while he tried to keep his past to himself for now as it was a sore topic for him and was glad that no one pushed him.

Then John's luck ran out with the Tony guessing game. He had just come out of the shower and was shirtless when someone knocked the door insistently.

"Coming!" John said as he approached the door and opened it. "Hey John, it was just..." Tony trailed as he saw the scars littered on John's chest. "May I come in?" Tony asked and John nodded as he rushed in to get a shirt, self conscious of the scars.

The moment John returned, Tony started. "Jonathan, Afghanistan nearly 5 years back along with Myc right?" Tony asked knowingly. John just sighed. "What gave it away?" he asked.

"I remember the scars from when I saw it when you were checking your ribs after you took off that bulletproof vest. That long gash was something I never forgot you know. But I guess you had your fun." Tony said.

"Yeah, it was definitely fun but what brought you here Tony?" John asked. "Oh yeah, just wanted to inform you that Myc had called and wanted to tell you something. And just expect a visitor pretty soon. Just a heads up." Tony said and went out of the room.

"Oh! And do you want to tell the team about your military background and how you... you know?" Tony said popping in. "Get out now Tony, I'll think about it." John said and shut the door before sighing. "Genius'" he muttered as he went to get his phone to call Mycroft for whatever he had wanted.

"Hello Mycroft, what did you want?" John asked. "Nothing much, just wanted to know how you are doing you know, you didn't check in after you settled in." Mycroft said.

"Just get to the point Mycroft, I know you did not call just for that." John responded. "Straight to the point then, I got your message but it will take some time to collect all the documents to do that you know." he said.

"I realised that. Just work on it though, promise me that." John said. "Don't worry John, I am working on it. No one can see it until you want them to" promised Mycroft and cut the call. John sighed and paced around, thinking about what to do.

No one can come to know about his powers right now, so he was clueless on what to do. He needed a reason why he was in America all of a sudden, staying with the Avengers and all. Plus he cannot give out any personal information incase his close ones were hurt and hence the call to Mycroft.

John sighed again and went out, maybe he might be of some help in preparing the dinner that day.

 _Just an hour before Tony came to speak with John_

It was a pretty good day for Tony. He had almost got close as to why John was familiar, there had been no missions of late, SI was not having any troubles, the team had gotten along well with John even though there was still some doubts. But then it happened.

The phone rang insistently and Tony picked it up while asking JARVIS to continue scanning and processing the information. "Hello, Stark speaking." Tony said.

"I need to come over to your place and no one can know about it." the person replied. "What did you do this time? I thought you were going to stay there for a few days?" Tony asked, a little amused. This guy sure had his way to piss of people.

"Just that the people of London have gone mad. I will explain more when I meet you there. And my conference is actually over you know." the guy replied. "Yeah, yeah, got it bro" Tony said. "And don't forget to book the ticket, I am not in a state to do it myself. Thank you" he said and cut the call.

"Why brother why?" Tony let out a frustrated shout. "JARVIS, get his room ready, I'll inform the team about his arrival. Stupid brothers and their unexpected announcements. He had just gone to London for a medical conference and suddenly, he calls up and says that London has gone mad and wants to come back." Tony muttered as he went out of the lab to inform the team.

Just as he was leaving, there was another call. He picked it up again and asked "What do you want now?"

"This is Mycroft, please ask whoever is this Dr. Strange guy to leave immediately before any trouble arises. And please ask John to call me." he said and cut the call before he could reply so he just texted that he already knew about it and was working on it.

"Stupid British officials" was all Tony could say as he booked the ticket for one Dr. Stephen Strange.

 _A few hours before the call, London_

He had just landed in London for the medical conference, which to happen in about an hour. "Dr. Strange?" someone called out and he turned to see a driver waiting for him. He boarded the taxi, attended the conference and it went well.

He had just gone to some restaurant to grab a bite before exploring when the mess started. He was quietly eating his sandwich when someone suddenly pointed at him and said "There is the liar who cheated all of us and then faked his death." and that one statement soon started spreading around while he was just blinking, not knowing what is happening.

It was only when someone hit him that he realised what was happening. "Wait! I am not the one you think I am!" he said frantically as he dashed to the exit when he realised that the crowd was not going to leave him alone.

And since then, he had been running until he could no more and quickly entered a house that was luckily unlocked and shut the door quite loudly. "What is going on?" a lady asked as she entered the hall. "Sorry mam but I would- " Strange started explaining before he was cut off.

"Sherlock? Is that you?" she asked, her hands trembling slightly. "John is going to be glad to see you ohmygosh! I need to inform Gregory and- " "Sorry to interrupt mam but I am not whoever this Sherlock guy is. I am Dr. Stephen Strange and there was quite a mob behind me, shouting insults so I sought refuge here." Strange explained.

Mrs. Hudson just blinked in disappointment before letting out a small "Oh" before ushering him in. "Sorry for the misunderstanding Dr. Strange. I am Mrs. Hudson and I own this place. I think you were attacked because you looked quite similar to someone who was falsely accused for a few things before he died." she explained.

"Wait a minute, I had a picture of him somewhere, maybe that will clarify your doubts" Mrs. Hudson said before going back inside. Strange just took out his phone and called up his brother to inform that he would be coming over sooner than expected.

Mrs. Hudson returned with a cup of tea and a photograph and handed it over to Strange. "I can see why people confused me with him. Who is he though?" he asked.

"The one who looks like you is Sherlock Holmes. If you ask him who he was, he might tell you he was a sociopath or a consulting detective but ask the ones he was close to, we would tell you he was a genius who was very good at judging people at one glance. I mean, he can tell about your whole life by just looking at you. Though he could be a little insensitive due to that as not many people liked him for that." Mrs Hudson said with a fond smile.

"And the other person?" he asked, a little nerved out about hearing about his imposter. "Oh, that is John Watson, a doctor like you actually. Ways always supporting Sherlock with cases or otherwise. You can say he kept him in check and put up with everything Sherlock did. And he was the one who was hit the most when Sherlock died, he had died in front of him, the poor guy. The two were too close that you can imagine them to be in a relation." she said sadly.

"Oh" was all Strange could say after hearing the story. "Would you mind if I stay over till I can catch a plane? I have no where else to stay and there is a mob after me."

"No problem at all, I would not mind. Where are you going though?" she asked. "New York for now." he replied. "Oh! Then can you give whatever I give to you to John? He had asked it the last time he had called." she explained.

"Sure, I'll try. But where does he stay for now?" Strange asked. "I... I'm not sure about those details exactly. He just said somewhere near that big tower in New York." she lied partially.

"I'll try my best to do so Mrs. Hudson. Where should I stay though?" "I'll show you come, get ready and come down after that, I'll prepare you something to eat." she said and showed him to Sherlock's previous room.

 ** **A/N: The long awaited chapter finally! I know that some of the scenes are too absurd but... I can't help how my imagination works you know. Hopefully this compensates for my long absence from this book.****

 ** **Hope you all like it! And there you go, Strange is Tony's brother. Any ideas on the Strange - John meeting? Comment please. All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 14 April 2019****


	13. Timeline

****So... if you hadn't noticed before... I have finally started editing the book (oof!) and... school has been hectic as usual so... While I might not be able to type out a chapter, I wanted to clarify the timeline with you guys along with some spoilers about the upcoming chapters.****

 ** **1) We get to see Sherlock****

 ** **2) Dr. Strange and Tony****

 ** **3) Dr. Strange and John****

 ** **I think this should explain something. Anyone who wants to give me ideas on Tony Strange relation can please do so along with John's reaction. But what do you think I am going to do with Sherlock?****

 ** **And the timeline...****

 ** **IM 1 - John is still in the army****

 ** **IM 2 - John is shot and meets Sherlock****

 ** **S1 and S2 all episodes, Thor, Hulk, CA:TFA.****

 ** **S2E3 & Avengers happen nearly at the same time.****

 ** **Thor 2 - John gets his powers****

 ** **IM 3****

 ** **CA: TWS****

 ** **Should I bring in AOU and CA: CW? Personally, not a fan of both but... opinions accepted!****

 ** **And then... Idk if I will do Spiderman Homecoming here... though IW and Endgame will still happen. Anything else I left off... please comment.****

 ** **Until next time!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****


	14. Chapter 13

It was quite a silent day at 221B Baker Street, which would've been unusual when Sherlock and John were around, but now, it the silence was unbearable for Mrs. Hudson with both her boys away from her. It was almost a solace when the doctor who was a lot like Sherlock came there coincidentally, seeking shelter from the mob.

"All packed for your journey then Dr.. Strange?" she asked as she handed over the package she wanted to give to John. "All packed Mrs. Hudson. Thank you for letting me stay over here. I will convey your wishes to John." Strange said in reply and shouldered his bag on before heading out silently in the early morning, hoping that there wouldn't be a mob behind him, only to find a car waiting for him.

"Get in, this car will take you to the airport." a woman with a blackberry in her hand said. Stephen blinked for a moment before climbing on. "Who are you?" he asked. "Just an acquaintance." she said and turned back to her phone. Strange just dropped the conversation and looked outside the window until they reached the airport.

"Thank you" he said, turning to head inside. "Don't try coming over to London for sometime, it will end up the same way." was all she said before the car took off again. "The people have all gone bonkers." he muttered as he walked into the airport.

 _Eight hours later_

"So... who is this strange visitor who is staying over?" Clint asked. All the Avengers had assembled in the common floor at Tony' beckoning and were curious at this mysterious stranger.

"They will be over any minute. Be patient Legolas." Tony said, rolling his eyes as the elevator pinged and Strange entered the room filled with the curious Avengers.

"Sherlock?" John whispered and made a move to get up when Tony said "Guys, this is Dr. Stephen Strange, and my brother. No questions about that please, it is quite a complicated story." Tony said.

"Though I don't get why a part of London started to go mad and start attacking you." Tony wondered. "I would've been surprised if they hadn't attacked him with the two of them looking so similar. Dr. John Watson, new addition to the team." he said, holding out his hand.

"Good to meet you Dr. Watson. Mrs. Hudson sends in her love and a package and said, I quote 'if you don't call me soon, I will come there myself and deck you in the head'. She is a lifesaver." Strange said, taking his hand.

"You are lucky to have chosen to hide there else..." he thought and shuddered. "I should call her soon and thank her. Hope you didn't scare her much when you barged in there." John said.

"Ok, cut it there. Can you explain what is happening here? Why was there a mob behind Stephen? And how did you know about it John?" Tony asked.

"Not that hard to connect the dots Stark. Your brother looks a lot similar to a particular consulting detective who was famous in London before he committed suicide after people accusing him of being a fraud. So... imagine your brother entering the city where people believe that the "fraud" has returned, not surprising." John said with a shrug.

"Oh! That part huh, gotcha. Then you are lucky to have escaped from there quickly. Clint Barton, Hawkeye. And that over there is Natasha, Steve, Bruce and Thor." he said, quickly pointing towards the respective people.

"Nice to meet you guys. Tony, I hope the room is usable and not like the last time." he said and turned towards the elevator to head back to his room before unpacking.

"So... who is this person so similar to his brother?" Natasha asked. "Not now Natasha, will tell you some other time. My shoulder is acting up right now." John said and moved upstairs.

"Clint?" Steve asked. "Not my place to say. It is quite a sensitive topic for John but he will open up." Clint said curtly and sat down on the couch. The others just let it slide for now and went their own ways.

Meanwhile, John just took out the photo of Sherlock and himself and stared at it, wondering about the times they had together. 'Why did he have to jump?' he thought as he heard a knock. He quickly put the picture down and asked them to come in.

"Mrs. Hudson asked me to give this to you." Stephen said as he gave John the package. "Thanks. I'll convey that you have arrived safely." John said. "What did you think of him? You know, the first time you met him?" Stephen asked out of curiosity.

"It was... confusing." John replied, taking out the picture. "I had just entered a lab with my old friend who said he was going to introduce me to a potential flatmate and the first question he asks is 'Afghanistan or Iraq' and then he talks about playing the violin and long bouts of silence, saying that 'potential flatmates should know about each other.' and then asks me to meet him at the flat he found. When I said that we knew practically nothing about the other, he immediately started deducing facts about me, gave his name and an address and left." John said fondly, fingering the image of Sherlock.

"Did you love him?" Tony suddenly asked from behind, startling the two of them. "No, he was my best friend after... you know, being shot and retired." John said with a sigh.

"Shot?" Strange asked. "Yeah, shot on the shoulder. Nerve damage, my hands shake at times, hence my job as a surgeon is also gone. Blood loss and infection, nearly died on the operation table, they said. I was almost hopeless when I met that man." he said fondly.

"Oh. By any chance, is it Sherlock Holmes from your blog, don't look surprised, I follow that blog. That man was a genius by the way you portray him. You've got quite a following if you hadn't noticed, all supporting Sherlock" Tony said nonchalantly.

"Oh? I haven't visited my blog for quite sometime." John said with a frown. "Well then, we will leave you to your own devices then. Meet you during training." Tony said and left with Strange.

"Better call Mrs. Hudson soon." John said and took out his phone.

 _At the Bus_

Melinda had just landed the Bus sometime ago and everyone were resting inside and Phil was just about to call John when he heard the door open silently. He picked his gun up silently and crept towards the noise, only to notice a hooded figure heading towards the computers. "What do you want?" Phil asked harshly as he unlocked his gun. The figure froze and turned around, the masked face coming into view.

"Asset has to collect information, no killing, only maiming." the figure said and moved forward at lightning speed and knocked out Coulson without any sound before heading to the computers and searched two names - Jim Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes, collecting the required information and silently moved out of the Bus, leaving Coulson on the floor, bleeding slightly.

 _Somewhere in India_

There was an intense chase going on, dodging cars and buildings and trying to avoid hitting the people. "Just this one, then there is only one more place before you can go home, to John." he thought as he chased the group, unaware of the assassin or the truck waiting for him somewhere ahead, not knowing that he was walking into a trap in his hurry to catch them and go home soon.

The masked assassin took his aim and the bullet passed through the person's hand and he stopped and cried out, not noticing the truck that was heading towards him and it hit him head on and he fell, bleeding all over the road, people screaming out in various languages to call the ambulance immediately as crackers started bursting everywhere.

 ** **A/N: Another chapter for you folks! I know that this is below par but... I was trying to get in as much as I can when I had some free time. So... any guesses on the mysterious people mentioned in the end, there are 3 of them with no name. Guess who?****

 ** **I hope you all like the chapter! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated. What do you suggest will take place in the next chapter?****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 27 October 2019****


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